I think I'm alone now (Criminal Minds Umbrella Academy)
by carsonleighlatham
Summary: Morgan, and his husband Reid both look to the young boy sitting on the hospital bed."Why aren't you talking to us? We want to find the person that did these bad things to you...are you scared that the person is going to get you?" The boy nodded his head, yes. "If you talk to us we can protect you." The boy looked up at them. "My name is number 4."
1. Chapter 1: Meeting Number Four

This damn mausoleum. I had lost track of time in here. Which happened every time dad put me in here. But this time something was different. It was raining, and it was oddly peaceful (I was still scared, but it wasn't as bad with the rain filling my ears) . I had lost count of how many times he had put me in here, and left me. Sometimes I think he did it just to get me to shut up. Everyone else had learned to shut their mouths, except for Five, but we were both stubborn that way. '_I wonder how everyone else is doing? One good thing about being in here is that I don't have to do normal training._' My leg's were starting to feel stiff so I stood up and leaned against the wall, using my sense of touch to lead me around the room. It was completely dark. So it would be impossible to not trip over something. '_Did dad forget about me in here? I'm so hungry. How many days have I not eaten? ' _I thought to myself as I walked around the mausoleum, trying to get some feeling back into my sore legs. '_At this point I don't care if dad punishes me. I'm going to starve to death then it wont matter._' I let my stomach's feeling of hunger rule over my common sense. I knew that when dad caught me trying to get out I would be punished, probably with the shocker again, but I was just so hungry. I had spent a lot of time in this damn place, so I knew that it was pretty old. And that some of the walls were weaker than others. I got on my hands and knees and started pushing on the wall, looking for the weak spot I had found when I tried to get out other times. I jumped out of my skin when I heard a crash, but let out a shaky breath when I recognized the sound of thunder. "Geez, I thought dad had caught me for sure." I said to myself. '_Talking to yourself again?_' I nodded "Yep, I'm going insane. I know." I said as I found the spot. "Or maybe I'm finally talking to the ghosts like dad wishes I could." I said before pushing the weakened wood. I could feel drops of the cold rain drip on my arms as I put all my might into pushing the wooden wall. "Come on, I just need enough to squeeze out." I said. '_I wish I was as strong as Luth - Number One right now._' I can't call any of my siblings by their names, or dad with punish me. '_You can't speak, move, or do anything without dads permission or he will punish you. Which is why you should stop trying to get out right now_!' Thunder rang through the sky as I was able to push the wooden boards out. It was a small gap, but I knew it was my only hope of getting out of here and finding some food. I pushed my head and shoulders through the gap, and my torso got stuck between the boards, but I dug my hands into the muddy ground and pulled with all the strength I had left. I slipped a few times, and one time my face landed in the mud and I struggled to breath for a few seconds until I could push myself out of the ground again. I got my torso through, and ignored the ripped shirt and cuts on my torso as I pulled my legs and feet through. 'I-I'm out." I said standing up. "Oh God, now what?!" I asked myself as the rain started soaking me. '_RUN!_' I shook my head. "No, he will find me. And punish me. I don't wanna - dad will kill me when he catches me." My heart was suddenly beating a lot faster than it was while I was inside the mausoleum, and I didn't think that was possible. The mausoleum was right outside of the house, and the kitchen was right there. But if I went in to eat dad would punish me if he saw me, but I'm so hungry. '_RUUUUN! He hasn't been back in days! Maybe he forgot about you!_' I shook my head again. "This is another test, he is watching. I know he is." Another crash of thunder rang through the sky and I knew it was dad. He was coming for me. "No! Don't punish me!" I shouted as I ran away from the house, away from dad, and away from that damn mausoleum. Lightning lit up the sky as I ran into the woods, but it was so dark, I kept tripping over roots and twigs. I felt my ankle twist in an odd direction as I fell to the ground, recognizing the sound of bones cracking. But I knew that dad was after me, and I couldn't stop running now! '_He is right behind me I know it! He is going to kill me! He is so mad. I'm sorry dad please don't punish me dad. Not the shocker dad!_'

-Third Person Pov-

A family was driving down the road through the rain. The dad at the steering wheel. He looked over his shoulder to see his two young kids asleep in the back seat. "How far away from the hotel are we?" Him wife asked as she sat up in the passenger seat. "Another hour. It's getting pretty late. You should try to get some sleep." He said patting her shoulder comfortably. "And let you fall asleep at the wheel before out vacation can even begins? No thanks. I'll keep you company." She said with a grin. The husband looked back to the road, the rain and the dark making him focus to make sure he stayed on the road. "Honey, wait! Look over there." His wife said pointing ahead of the road. He followed her finger to see a small figure limping on the side of the road. "Is- is that a kid?" He asked as they got closer. "Oh no, pull over. What the heck is going on?" His wife asked as he drove in front of the kid and pulled over to the side of the road. The husband put on his hazard lights while the wife got out of the car into the rain and walked up to the kid. He was covered in mud and rain, and his shirt was all torn up. He didn't have any shoes on. She took a few steps back when she saw the kid's legs were covered in bruises and cuts, and there was blood on his shirt. "Hey buddy, what happened?" The woman asked, she was a children's therapist so she recognized that the boy was in some sort of shock. She didn't want to scare him or make him run away so she stayed a few feet away from him. The boy didn't say anything, but looked really confused when his eyes finally landed on her. "What is wrong with him?" The husband asked running over in the rain with his kids rain jacket. "Don't get too close, go back to the car and call 9-1-1. He's hurt." The woman said with a whisper. The husband took a long look at the kid and his face took on a horrid look, but did as he was told after his wife took the rain jacket. "Do you want this?" She asked holding out the jacket to the kid. She doubted that the child could even hear her. He had a dazed look in his eyes as his vision landed on the jacket. "I'm- just hungry." The boy whispered, with fear in his eyes.

-Morgan's Pov-

I felt myself wake up and opened my eyes to a dimly lit room, with the sun shining through the curtains. I smiled feeling a warm weight on my chest. I looked down to see my husband of four years, Spencer sleeping on my chest. It was rare for me to wake up first, but when I did I always took time to appreciate watching Spencer sleep so peacefully. With our bare chests against each other. I recalled one of his random facts that he spat at me about how skin to skin contact was healthy for couples in long term relationships. He had one arm wrapped around my waist, and the other was hugging his pillow that he never actually used under his head. But I had no complaints. I noted that one of his legs was wrapped around my own, so I wouldn't be getting up for awhile. And so I took the moment to soak in the sun shining through the window, and my husbands breath run across my chest. Until I had to pee about 20 minutes later. I pulled my leg out from his and he opened his eyes, "Sorry pretty boy. I gotta pee." I said sitting up. Spencer lifted himself just enough to let me out from under him, and he let himself fall right back into the pillow. I chucked and ruffled his hair up a bit and went into the bathroom. Once I was done with that I walked back into the bedroom to see Spencer sitting up in bed, the comforter wrapped around him. He looked up to me rubbing his eyes and gave me a sleepy smile. I sat down on the bed and he climbed up on my lap. "Oh, someone feeling cuddly this morning?" I asked running a hand through his hair. He only nodded, showing that he was still waking up. So we sat together for a few more minutes, enjoying the peace and quite until he got up to use the bathroom. I got up and got dressed in my work clothes. Then went into the kitchen to start brewing our coffee. Once the machine started brewing I opened the laptop that was on the kitchen counter and went to the foster website that Spence and I had been looking at for almost over a month now. I took a seat on the stool and leaned over the device. We had both started talking about kids after our 3rd year anniversary. We knew that we wanted to adopt, but the process was proving more difficult then we thought. We had a few kids in the house, but honestly we hadn't made a connection with any of them. We cared for all of them, and they had their own problems being in foster care and all but that wasn't the problem with us. Given our job we felt equipped to deal with their issues that they had from the foster system. But we knew that the right kids for us were out there somewhere, just waiting for us. "At it again are we?" Spence asked setting a cup of coffee beside me. I thanked him as I took a sip. "Always." I said with a heavy sigh. I felt Spencer lean over my back and rest his chin on my shoulder, looking at the kids listed on the sight as well. We sat like that, pointing out kids that caught our attention until both of our phones went off at the same time. "We both know what that means." Spencer said as I looked at the text from Garcia. "Oh, It's not a good one either. We're to meet at the plane ASAP." I said standing up. "Are they ever good ones?" Spencer asked, going to get travel cups for our coffee while I went into the living room to get our to-go bags. "They are when we save someone, or stop someone bad." I said. "True, but it can't be good when even Hotch says it's a bad one." Spencer said looking over the text himself as we both left our house. Another day, another case.

'_Or that's what we thought that day leaving our house, but we had no idea what was waiting for us. And how this case would change out lives forever._'

-Number 5's Pov-

I stood in line with my other siblings, aside from Klaus who was still in his special training. We were all worried about our brother, but we didn't dare ask dad about it. Klaus had never had to do special training for so long before. "ATTENTION!" Sir Reginald Hargreeves, aka. daddy dearest, shouted as he entered the dining room. Usually after mom fed us breakfast we would go to lessons, but mom had told us to wait for dad here, so we knew something was up. He was angry, that was easy to tell. And that put all of us on edge. "It would seem that your brother Number 4 has played a disheartening act on us. He wasn't in the mausoleum when your mother went to get him this morning, and part of the wall was broken." Silence filled the air. '_He actually did it! He escaped._' I wanted to see my siblings reactions to the news, but I knew that if any of us made a move right now we would be punished. Dad was probably itching to let out his anger, so he was waiting for one of us to slip up. So he could punish us. "You better NOT be smiling right now number 6!" I bit the inside of my cheek, not Ben. He had already been punished twice this week. "I'm not sir!" Ben said, fear in his voice. "Did I say you could speak?!" dad shouted before slapping Ben across the face. I closed my eyes, hearing the slap so sharp in my ears made me feel like he had slapped me across the face. "Maybe you should get special training today huh?" dad asked Ben. '_NO! He was still healing from the last time Ben had to do training._' I stepped out of line and I could hear Vanya gasp from beside Ben. "Special training is stupid! We don't have powers! You crazy lunatic!" I shouted, and part of me felt amazing to finally tell the old man off. But when dad grabbed my shirt collar and started to pull me out of the room I knew that I was going to get hurt really bad. But Ben couldn't go through special training again until he healed more. "Seems as if Number 5 has volunteered himself as tribute. You all can take a lesson from teamwork from him. And Number 6, what happens to him is your fault. Don't forget that, and remember that next time you want to smile at my misery." Dad said before dragging me out of the dining room. I could hear Ben crying as dad dragged me up the steps of the house, and I could only hope that my other siblings could tell him that it wasn't his fault. Fear pumped through my veins as dad threw me into the training room and shut the door, locking it behind him. "Now let's being Number 5"

-Spencer's Pov-

Morgan and I boarded the jet and saw that everyone else was already on board. "Alright, we don't have much time so thank you for meeting on the plane." Hotch said as the plane door started to close. We both took a seat on the couch next to each other and we started the meeting as the plane got ready to take off. Garcia appeared on the screen via Skype. "A young boy was found walking the side of the road a few hours ago by a family driving by. He is currently a John Doe because he isn't showing up on any missing child's cases. He also isn't talking." Hotch said opening his file. "He can't talk?" JJ asked from her seat. "The doctors say that there isn't anything wrong with his vocal cords, and the people who originally found him told police that he said a few words to them. But he only said a few things, and then he went silent and hasn't spoken sense." I frowned. "There could be multiple reasons the boy isn't talking, it would be useless to assume until we know more." I said looking through the files that had been given to us. Garcia spoke up for the first time. "I'm running his picture through facial recognition for missing children and foster care facilities as well. If this kid is in any system I will find him." she said. "What else do we know about the boy?" Prentiss asked. "The doctors report says that they are guessing that he is between the ages seven to nine. But it's hard to tell because of the rest of the report. There is evidence of long lasting physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. When he was found he had a broken ankle and cuts on his legs, hands, arms, torso, and back. He was extremely malnourished and dehydrated. His eyes are also sensitive to any light." The plane was dead silent until Rossi let out a heavy sigh. "That's a lot. Are we going to be able to get anything from the boy? The trauma seems like it's going to be astronomical...no wonder he isn't talking." I looked over to Morgan and I put my hand on top of his. He snapped out of whatever thought he was having and gave me a small, reassuring smile. Anytime we had a kid with sexual abuse it was especially hard for Morgan. And this seemed like it wasn't going to get any better for any of us. The plane was flying now and we were hours away. "When we land Morgan and Reid will go to the hospital and work with the boy. JJ and Rossi will go to the sight where to boy was found. We can't tell how far he was walking through the woods because it was raining when he was found. The dogs weren't able to find any trail. Prentiss your with me at the police station to interview the people who found the boy. It's hard to imagine but right now we can't rule out the un-sub going to find another boy now that this one escaped from them, or that there are multiple children in some sort of sex trafficking situation. We're going to find the guy who did this." We all agreed and I leaned back, still holding onto Morgan's hand. He turned his hand over and weaved his fingers with mine and squeezed. Hotch had send Morgan to the boy because of his ability to relate to him, and he sent me with Morgan to make sure Morgan was okay. Obviously that wasn't the only reason, but I was glad that Hotch put us together for this case.

-Klaus Pov-

I have seriously messed up. Dad is going to kill me when he finds me! Everyone kept telling me that it was going to be okay, but they didn't know my dad. They didn't know anything! Number 5 was always the one talking about escaping, and now it seemed wrong that it was me instead. Because I'm not smart like 5 or strong like Luther. I couldn't be charming like Allison. Hell even if Ben, Diego, or Vanya had gotten away it would have been better than me. I'm the family screw up! If anyone else got out they would be able to tell someone what was going on and send help for the others. But they wouldn't be able to do anything. Dad would kill all my siblings if anyone found out about us! Five would know what to do. "This sucks." I whispered to myself. '_Yea it does._'

-Morgan Pov-

"Let me do the talking at first, I don't want the Reid effect to shut this kid up forever." I said with sarcasm as Spencer rolled his eyes. We were walking towards the hospital room where our John Doe was being held. "I've gotten much better. Dogs don't even bark at me when I pass them anymore." Spencer said with a grin, probably glad to see me joking around. "I know your worried about me pretty boy. But I promise I will tell you if anything is bothering me. Honestly I think this whole case is going to bother all of us for awhile." Spencer agreed as we met with the doctor outside of the boys room. The doctor had a frown on his face as we introduced ourselves. "I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like this before in my eleven years of practice. The lights in the room are dimmed for his eyes, so please don't make it any brighter in the room. We can tell that his eyes are just hyper sensitive to light. They will get better with time, but it is easy to tell the boy was trapped in a dark place for a long time. He refuses to get on the hospital bed, and every time we try to put an IV in him he freaks out. So we are feeding him the best we can and giving him lots of water to drink. He could really use the IV for nutrients and his dehydration, but we don't want to do it unless we deem it necessary with the reactions we have been getting from him. And with all of his reactions and of the whole situation he is on suicide watch until further notice...and I'm not sure if how long he has gone without sleep. He hasn't sense he was found, and we don't know how long he was in the woods for." Spencer looked through the window of the room and frowned. "But I don't see him right now anywhere." He said with worry. "He is hiding under the bed. He goes under the bed any chance he gets." The doctor said. I felt my heart break a bit more as I turned to the door. Spencer took care of thanking the doctor and getting more information we would need as I slowly opened the door. If I weren't told differently I would have thought that the room was empty. But sure enough, when I lay on my front on the floor and faced the bed I saw a little boy curled up under the bed. I couldn't see all of him, but I could tell that he saw me. He pushed himself away from me, but stayed under the bed. I looked at his ankle where there was a cast, and there were bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. He had on a hospital gown and was practically hiding himself inside of it as he curled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself. He was resting his head on the ground, his eyes looking right into mine. I put my profiling skills to use, but anyone could see this kid was terrified. But what was he so scared of? "Hey kid, my name is Morgan. I'm with the FBI." The boys eyes went wide and his lips started moving. "He is talking to himself," Spencer whispered, I turned to him. When had to gotten down on the ground next to me? This case was already getting to me. "My name is Doctor Spencer Reid, I'm also with the FBI." The boy's lips stopped moving and he looked confused. Spencer, despite the whole situation chuckled. "I'm not a doctor like the ones in this hospital. I'm a different doctor." The boy seemed to think about that for a few seconds before nodding his head in understanding. At least he was communicating with us, even if it wasn't verbal communication. "Are you hiding under the bed from the bad person who did this to you?" Spencer asked in a gentle voice. The boy nodded yes again, and put a finger in his mouth. Nervously biting his nails. "I used to bite my nails when I got nervous as a kid too." Spencer's smile was gentle, and he seemed to be making some sort of connection with the boy so I stayed silent. "Do you know what the FBI does?" He asked. The boy shook his head. "They protect people. They help people stay safe. Morgan and I came here because we heard that you were here and you needed protecting...is that true?" The boy nodded his head, so much that it seemed like he wanted to tell us something more. But Spencer didn't push, and instead he smiled. "Good! I'm glad were here to protect you. We wont make you do anything you don't want too. You can stay right there if you feel safe." The boy nodded again and Spencer sat up. I sat up too and smiled. "That was good pretty boy." I whispered, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I didn't mean to interrupt you trying to connect with him." He said with a frown. "Hey, you did good. He wasn't having any of it with me. Looks like your his choice." I whispered. Spencer nodded and lay down on the ground again, I didn't completely lay on my front again, but I bent down enough to see that the boy was talking to himself again. Lips moving with no voice. But both Spencer and I knew that we couldn't push it, patience was going to have to be our tool right now if we wanted any answers from the young boy.

-Vanya's Pov-

"Five has been gone all day. He wasn't at dinner either." Ben said with tears in his eyes. After dad had dragged Five away we had to go to class with mom, and then after lunch dad came back without Five for training.

"_You will not be able to save the world if you do not reach the full potential of your powers!" He shouted at us as we were forced to fight each other in combat. As far back as I could remember this was my life, our lives. Dad had always thought that we had super powers, and that we were going to save the world from the apocalypse. He raised us from birth training us. On our seventh birthday Five said that dad and mom were crazy, and that we didn't have powers. But anytime we tried to tell that to dad we would get punished, and it wasn't worth it. We knew that we would never be able to do what our parents wanted us too, but that never stopped them from trying. _

"Five will be o-okay. Dad already lost one of his soldiers, so he w-wouldn't risk loosing another one." Diego said trying to comfort Ben. I was hoping that Five would be at dinner, but he didn't show up. And after we were done eating dad had pushed us into the hallway that held our rooms and locked the door. We each had our own room, they were only big enough to fit our blankets and a single pillow. And there was one bathroom at the end of the hallway, but there was only a toilet in it. There were no windows, and the only exit was from the door at the end of the hallway that dad always locked when we were sent to our rooms. "I should have stepped up and not Five." Luther said with guilt in his eyes. "Just because you are number 1 doesn't mean you have to protect us from dad all the time...this isn't anyone's fault." Allison said sitting next to Luther. We were all sitting in the hallway together. Luther didn't seem to be comforted by Allison's words. Dad had appointed him the leader of us. He was dad's favorite, number 1. Luther always felt a sense of responsibility to protect the rest of us because of his ranking. Dad always shouted at Klaus, calling him his disappointment of a child, but he had named Klaus number 4. And I was unlucky number 7. I knew that dad liked me the least. "I'm glad Klaus got away." I said with a small grin. "Y-yea, and he left the rest of us behind! G-good job he did running away!" Diego said with anger, losing control of his stutter. "Don't pretend like you wouldn't have." Allison said folding her arms. "Maybe he will be able to find someone who can help us." she said hopefully. "There is no one who wants to help us." Ben said looking up. It was silent after that, because we knew it was true. It stayed quite until the door to the hallway opened and mom came in carrying Five in her arms. He was passed out, and covered in bruises. He also had stitches on the side of his head. "He is okay, mom gave him so medication to help with the pain and keep him sleeping through the night. Take care of him now kids, and be ready when I get you all for breakfast." Mom said setting him on the ground before turning and leaving, the click of the lock echoing in my ears. "Help me pick him up and put him in his room." Luther said standing up. Ben and Diego did as Luther instructed, and the boys were able to get Five in a comfortable position on top of his blankets. Ben went to his room and grabbed his blankets laying them on top of a sleeping Five. "It's the least I can do for him." Ben whispered. "He did the right thing, if he didn't one of us would have. You get the worst of dad's training. If he did it to you again before the cuts could heal it would have been really bad...you would have done the same for us." Luther said to try and comfort Ben. "Let's all go to bed, before dad comes down to check on us." Everyone agreed, and before Ben could go to his room alone I grabbed his hand. "Sleep with me tonight. We can share my blankets sense you gave Five yours." Ben smiled and agreed and we both squeezed into my room. It was tight but we were able to cuddle each other and have enough room to be semi comfortable. We both rested out heads on the single pillow. Neither of us wanted to be alone, and it was nice to have someone close. Especially with Klaus gone now. "Do you think we will ever see Klaus again?" Ben asked, mirroring my thoughts. "Hopefully not. I hope he never comes back here again. He's safe now." I whispered, before closing my eyes.

-Klaus Pov-

"It can't be comfortable under that bed can it?" My eyes snapped open. I couldn't fall asleep. They would start to do training with me, or worse, take me back to dad. I couldn't let my guard down. I looked over to where Spencer was sitting beside the bed. He had a blanket and a few pillows around him. "If you want you can come out and sleep on top of the bed, but if not you can stay under there and I can give you some blankets and pillows." I didn't say or do anything and I heard Spencer sigh. He was mad, would he be like dad when he was mad too? I started to worry and Spencer frowned. "Hey, it's okay! I'm not upset with you. I promise!" He was smiling, and didn't look like he was going to reach under the bed and try to grab me so I took a few deep breaths to calm down like Allison taught me to. "Are you worried that something is going to happen if you fall asleep?" Spencer asked. I nodded and he had a look that I couldn't read on his face. "How would you feel about sleeping with me or Morgan? We're here to protect you remember? Nothing will happen to you if you fall asleep with one of us." I frowned, I didn't know that I could trust the FBI. "You can hold my hand the whole time, and I wont let go until you wake up. I promise." I was so tired I almost believed him. The hunger I had felt before wasn't hurting me anymore, and my body had felt so heavy once I was full. '_You wont be able to stay awake much longer. Five always tells me that it's impossible to stay awake for a long time_.' I thought about it. "If I am going to fall asleep, it would be better to do it with Spencer or Morgan. They said they were the FBI and they protect people. They are here to protect me."

-Morgan Pov-

We watched at the boys lips moved, talking to himself. Spencer and I couldn't have hidden our smiles if we had tried to when the young boy slowly came out from under the bed. He looked confused, as if he didn't know what to do next. I saw the slight fear in his posture, as if he was about to get hurt because he didn't know what to do. "Don't worry buddy. You can sleep wherever you want to. Do you want to get in the bed? Or on the couch?" Spencer whispered. The boy shook his head back and forth. "Okay, that's fine." Spencer said not pushing the bed. There may be a triggering reason he didn't want to sleep on the bed and this was major progress. So the kid was going to sleep wherever he chose. My jaw almost dropped in surprise when the small boy climbed into Spencer's lap. I gave credit to Spencer as he wrapped the boy up in one of the hospital blankets and didn't let his own shock show as the boy practically cuddled into Spencer's embrace. "You will protect me right? If I sleep here?" The boy whispered, his hand grabbing Spencer's shirt in a tight grip. "I promise. I won't let you go until you want me too." Spencer whispered. "Thank you." Spencer smiled. "Can you tell me your name? So I can help you?" The boy's eyes were shut, and I thought that he was already asleep, but he opened his mouth and whispered "My name is number four." The boy let out a heavy sigh and his head dropped onto Spencer's shoulder, and he was sleeping within seconds. Neither of us dared to move or say anything. I held up my phone to Spencer before going to the door to let him know I was going to call Hotch. Spencer smiled to me, before looking back down at the boy sleeping in his arms.

_"Your on speaker Morgan, how are things with the John Doe?" _Hotch asked on the phone.

"Spencer was able to make a connection with the boy. It's terrible guys. I've never seen PTSD like this before. He was hiding under the bed when we got here."

_"So were not going to be able to get much from the boy, which sucks because we are turning up empty everywhere else."_ Rossi said.

"Spencer was able to get the boy to speak. He is terrified that someone is coming after him. I believe that were dealing with multiple kids here. He wasn't the only one being held by this maniac. But he was the only one able to get away."

"_What makes you say that?_" JJ asked.

"The boy only started opening up to us after Spencer told him that we are here to protect him, and he was hiding under the bed when we first got here because he was hiding from whoever has been holding him captive. He is sleeping with Spencer now, but right before he fell asleep Spencer asked him his name." I had to pause to swallow back the bile in the back of my throat. "He said his name was number four."

No one said anything for a few seconds and I checked to see if my call was still connected.

_"So there are at least three more...and the only lead we have is too traumatized to help us." _Prentiss said, breaking the silence.

_"Morgan, you and Spencer are to stay there with the kid and keep working with him. Hopefully we will be able to get more from him. If not it's up to us to find the rest of the kids."_ Hotch said.

I sighed. "We will try our best, but our work is cut out for us here." I said .

_"Us too, there are no leads on our end either. But we will get this guy, and save the rest of the children."_ Hotch said before hanging up.

I put my phone back in my pocket and turned to the window of the room, even though it was dark I could see Spencer holding the boy in his arms. Now that he was out from under the bed it was easier to see all the bruises and cuts he had. My blood boiled, but one look at Spencer gently holding the boy in his arms and rocking back and forth calmed me a bit. "Don't worry buddy. Were going to save all those kids. And that bastard will never hurt you again."


	2. Chapter 2: Not the shocker!

Morgan was sitting on the couch across from the hospital bed where the young boy was sleeping. Spencer, true to his word had not let go of the boys hand. He had placed him in the bed successfully without waking him up so that the boy could sleep better shortly after he fell asleep. Morgan smirked when Spencer's leg started bouncing and he could tell that Spencer needed to use the bathroom. Plus while the boy had slept through the night and into the day due to how long he had gone without sleep, well Spencer wasn't as lucky. Every time Spencer had tried to let go of his hand the boy would start to wake up, or having some type of nightmare. But Morgan knew that Spencer was happy to hold the boys hand and bring him any kind of comfort. Morgan stood up and walked over to Spencer. "I'll take his hand. You go use the bathroom and get some rest." The man said patting Spencer's shoulder. The genius nodded, to tired to really put up any type of fight and let go of the boys hand. Even in his sleep the boys face twisted into a look of fear, until Morgan took the seat that Spencer had been sitting in and took the small hand into his own. "It's almost lunch time, we should probably wake him up soon. So that he can eat and not mess up his sleeping schedule." Spencer said thoughtfully before excusing himself to the bathroom. '_Yea, and we need to ask the boy more questions. If there are more kids in the same circumstances that he was in we needed to find the person responsible as fast as possible._' My phone started ringing and I picked it up quickly before the sudden sound could wake the boy up.

"_Hey, how is Number 4 doing?_" Prentiss asked as I answered the phone.

"Still sleeping, but Spencer wants to wake him up soon so he wont mess up his sleep schedule and to get him to eat." I whispered.

"_At least he is sleeping. Rossi and I weren't able to find anything from the scene where Number 4 was found. And Garcia is even coming up empty on foster kids. The boy and the other kids may have been taken from some foster homes or bought from some kind of black market or sex trafficking situation._" Prentiss said, the sadness in her voice couldn't be missed.

"We plan on questioning the boy more as we establish a better relationship. But whatever happened to him messed him up pretty bad. JJ is coming right?" I said, holding the boys hand tightly.

"_Yea, Hotch hopes the boy may be more open with a woman. Not that you all aren't doing great, but it's worth a shot to get him talking more. We will find who did this to him. And we will help those other kids too._" Prentiss said.

"I sure hope so. Spencer or I will call with any updates." I said before hanging up the phone.

Spencer came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, leaning on my back and resting his chin on top of my head. "How are you doing?" He asked me. I let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure. This is a tough one." I said holding the boys hand. "Which will make it all the better when we catch the guy who did this and get the other kids out." Spencer said, before covering his mouth with his hand. I heard him yawn and I smirked. "We wont be able to do that if our resident genius's brain is only working at 1/2 capacity." I said gesturing to the couch. "Just a short nap, I'll wake you up when we wake the boy up." Spencer nodded and gave me a quick kiss before walking over to the couch. He lay down and I watched him as his breathing slowed, and once I was sure he was sleeping I looked back to the boy. Even in his sleep he looked so ...haunted.

-Klaus Pov-

I felt something shaking me, pulling me away from sleep and I groaned. Something felt different. I sat up and opened my eyes slowly. "There you are boy wonder. Sorry to wake you, but you need to eat something." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and saw the FBI person sitting beside me in the bed. I looked down in confusion as the covers were laying over me. The people must not be mad at me for sleeping on the bed if they hadn't done anything to me yet. I had never slept in a bed before, no wonder dad and mom had these. I kicked the covers off of me and got on my hands and knees, pushing down on the mattress. It was bouncier than I had expected a bed to be. Ben and Diego would love this! I looked up and saw Morgan watching me, and he had a frown on his face. Like he was really sad. I tilted my head in confusion and sat criss-cross on the bed. Not sure of what I was supposed to do next, and I didn't want to get punished for doing something I wasn't supposed too. I looked around the room and saw Spencer sleeping on the couch. "He wanted me to wake him up when you woke up, but he needs to catch up on some sleep. So we're gonna let him rest a bit longer." Morgan said. I nodded and watched as the door to the hospital room opened. I sat up on my knees, getting into a fight position the best that I could on the bouncy bed. '_Always be ready to fight! Do not be caught off guard!_' Dad's words rang through my brain. "Hey, it's okay. This is another FBI agent. Her name is JJ. She is here to protect you too. Just like Spencer and I are." Morgan said resting his hand on my back. I felt my muscles relax as he rubbed my back and I slowly sat back down. I looked at the woman who was carrying some boxes and she looked a lot like mom. Her blonde hair, and her eyes were the same too. "Hey buddy, why are you crying?" Morgan asked. I touched my face, and yea. I was crying. I quickly wiped the tears away. Before anyone got mad. I felt the bed dip and I scooted away from the lady who had come in. "Hey, it's okay to cry. We don't mind." She said sitting one of the boxes on the bed. "This is for you. Doctor approved and everything so you can eat it all." She said opening the box. I slowly leaned over so I could look inside, and saw food. I didn't take the food. Knowing the rules. They were trying to trick me, this lady wanted to punish me so she was trying to get me to break the rules. "You can have it buddy. See here." JJ said pushing the box closer to me. I didn't touch it, but I watched as Morgan wordlessly took another box full of food and started eating. JJ did the same, and they both looked at me as they ate. It was only when they had each taken a few bites that I took the food and started eating as well. "Are there rules about how you eat?" Morgan asked. I nodded as I took another bite, and missed the glances that JJ and Morgan shared. "Are there a lot of rules at the place you were before?" JJ asked. I nodded. It was quite as we ate. '_I wonder what the others are doing today? I wonder if they miss me?_' I suddenly wasn't hungry, and I pushed the rest of the food away. "Are you full?" JJ asked as she looked over how much food I ate. Would she be mad if I said no? Or would she be mad if I said yes? Mom never got mad at us, but she enforced dads rules. Would JJ do that too? "Hey breath okay. You don't have to worry. It's okay." Morgan said rubbing my back again. I realized that I wasn't breathing and I took a deep breath. My heart felt like it was beating in my ears. I closed my eyes so I could focus on breathing, and when I opened my eyes JJ was gone. But Spencer was awake and sitting where she had been. "JJ went to talk on the phone. Does she remind you of someone?" Morgan asked. I looked between the two FBI agents. I nodded and they didn't seem mad at my answer. "Who does she remind you of?" Spencer asked. I looked down at my hands. I didn't know if this was a test, was I allowed to talk? Or if I did would they punish me? "Look at me okay 4?" I looked up to Morgan and he still had his hand on my back, it felt like a protection blanket covering me. "You don't have to have permission to talk here okay? You wont get in trouble for saying anything. We just want to help you. You can talk, and we wont be mad." my palms felt sweaty as Spencer and Morgan waited in the silence. I bit on one of my nails nervously. "JJ, looks like mom." I said, my voice barley above a whisper. "Mom would always fix us when we got hurt during training. And she would always get me after special training was over...she almost never punished. Unless dad told her to." I said, my arms were shaking. I had never told anyone this. There was never anyone to tell.

-Spencer Pov-

Okay, so that statement was a lot to unpack. I gave Morgan a glance and he nodded, telling me to take control of this conversation. He seemed really angry, and he didn't want the boy to think that Morgan was mad at him. But where to start? From that it was easy to gather that we were looking for a team of at least two people running this whole operation, there were in fact multiple kids like we thought, there was this 'special training' that the kids were forced to do. But what was it actually? From the boys reaction it could be some type of torture, or the people who had kidnapped them actually were training them for something. But what and why? "Okay. What is special training?" I asked the boy. He visibly shivered at the word. "It's different for each of us. Some of us get it worse off than others...but if we don't do good during our special training we get punished." I nodded, putting a steady hand on Morgan's leg. I could tell how angry he was getting, and he needed to control himself if we wanted more answers. I felt Morgan relax under my hand and I continued. "What are these punishments? Did your '_dad_' hurt you during these punishments?" The boy nodded, tears gathering in his eyes. "There were different types of punishments...but the worst was the shocker. He used that one when he was really mad. -_gasp_\- he is going to use it on me. He is going to be so angry with me!" The boy started panicking and had trouble breathing so we stopped questioning him. The boy said something under his breath as Morgan pulled him into his lap to calm him down. "Please dad, not the shocker please!"

-Vanya Pov-

"Please dad! Not the shocker!" I cried out. But dad was angry, and me talking without permission only made it worse. He held the metal rod in his hand and shoved it into my side. He clicked the button and a pulse of electricity shocked me. I cried out, dropping the violin. My whole body was covered in pain as I fell to my side. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SPEAKING WITHOUT PERMISSION?!" Dad shouted, before he shoved the rod against my shoulder blade. I cried out in pain as electricity sparked again. "First your disappointment of a brother runs off, then Number 5 rebels against me, now you can't even play this song in tune?! You are failing me Number 7!" Another click and another spark of electricity blinded my vision and it was getting harder to breath through the pain. "I don't know why I even waste special training time on you. You are the most worthless of the bunch Number 7!" Another shock and I started coughing, running out of air. My heartbeat was so loud in my ear and the room was getting darker. "If you pass out now Number 6 will have to take your place for special training." I shook my head. No not Ben, not yet. I pushed myself up on shaky arms and slowly got myself into a standing position. "Finally some progress. "Now pick up the violin and start from the beginning. One wrong note and you get shocked again. Understand?" I nodded as I bent down to get the violin. My arms wouldn't stop shaking, but I had to at least try to play. Ben couldn't take another round of special training right now. So I pulled the violin up and started the song from the beginning. Again. '_Klaus. This one is for you. Please be okay._' I thought to myself as I played the song. Trying my best to make every note perfect for dad.

-Morgans Pov-

"Okay. Maybe we should start from the beginning...what do we know so far?" Hotch said as he walked around the table. There were files and papers everywhere, and Spencer had sent me to the police station with a copy of the geographical profile to hang on the wall. After the boy, 4, was calm again he ate the rest of his food with us. He was opening up to us more which was great. But he needed a break from the questioning. He was still tired and the doctors needed to run some check-ups as well. So Spencer opted to stay with the boy while I went back to the police station to help the rest of the team. "Morgan?" I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to the team. "Sorry - what did you say?" I asked walking over to join everyone at the table. "That boy is really gotten into your head hasn't he?" Rossi asked with a knowing smirk. I let out a heavy sigh and ran my hands over my head. Trying to dull the headache starting to grow. "He is, he is clearly traumatized. But he is a strong person. Spencer really is attached to him as well." I explained. "Of course. He opened up to you two more than anyone else. People will tell you to not get emotionally involved. But it's pretty much impossible when the kids get emotionally attached to you." JJ said putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "He is a good kid, but something is holding him back. And I think it's the fear of the guy who has held him for so long coming back for him. I don't think he fully understands that he is actually free from his torture...he calls that monster his _dad_." I said biting the inside of my cheek. The anger boiling. "That's something." Hotch said with a thoughtful glance. "What if the people who are kidnapping these kids are using some kind of emotionally torture to insure that the kids follow their instructions? Such as a family setting where the 'parents' would do something to the other kids if they ever disobeyed him?" Rossi looked confused. "We already established that Hotch." He said sitting up in his chair. "In a way - but what if 4 sees the other kids that are still in danger as his siblings? It's a family dynamic. And somehow the 'parents' have engraved in the boys mind that if he says anything. He will hurt the other kids?" I nodded. "That does make sense with the way that he is acting. This kid wont do anything unless we say that it's okay or not against the rules. He sees us the same way that he sees his captures, and he thinks that if he disobeys he will end up indirectly hurting his siblings." Prentiss paced the room as she entered the conversation. "If that is the case we may not be able to get the boy to talk. From what we can tell he has been with that family his whole life. If he really was bought off of the black market or picked up off of the streets. Considering he doesn't have any records neither will the other kids. This is looking more and more impossible." She said. "We have covered all of our other bases. 4 is our only lead right now. Garcia is still checking foster records and everything else. But it seems like we have no way of finding out who these other kids are through records." Hotch said. "So we need to somehow break through the emotional torture and show 4 that we are trying to save his siblings, and that he wont kill them by talking to us? Easy right?" I said with sarcasm. "If anyone can do it, it's you and Spencer." JJ said with a smile. "Yea, maybe Prentiss can join me on the way back to the hospital? 4 reacted negatively to JJ because he said she looks like his 'mom' But maybe Prentiss will be able to talk to him some?" I asked, looking to Prentiss. She agreed to come with me while the rest of the team would start looking into what they could find with what they had. "Knowing that there is a woman with him that looks like JJ will be helpful. But not enough to find them. So let's get to work everyone." Hotch said as Prentiss and I left the police station.

-Ben's Pov-

"Lessons are over for the day kids. Now go to your rooms and wait for instructions from your father." Mom said as we stood up from our chairs. We got into our line, in order of our numbers, and walked in line to the hallway where our rooms were. Once we were in the hallway mom said goodbye to us before shutting the door. Once we heard the click of the lock we all relaxed. "You guys are back." Vanya said stepping out of her room. I could see the burn marks from the shocker on her arms and neck and I frowned. "He used the shocker? He must still be angry about Klaus escaping." Allison said walking over to her sister. "I'll get the first aid kit." Luther said walking over to his room. "We should switch out 5's bandages while were at it." Allison said as Diego and I helped Vanya take off her top. She moved her tank top around so that Allison could see all of the burn spots. "Let's take care of Vanya first." 5 said walking over to us. "5, come on. I can help you while Allison helps Vanya." Luther said, seeing right through 5's attempt to escape replacing his bandages. 5 rolled his eyes, and I took his hand pulling him over to Luther while Allison and Diego stayed with Vanya. Ben hissed in pain as Luther carefully removed the bandages covering his worst cuts. I took his hand and 5 squeezed it as Luther cleaned his cuts. "Sorry, it's almost over." Luther said as he continued his work. "It's never over. Once these heal dad will make new ones." 5 said with a frown. "At least we have each other...that's what Klaus always said." I said. 5 held my hand tightly. "Do you think he will be able to t-tell anyone ab-about us?" Diego asked as he helped Allison put burn cream on Vanya's arms. "He knows what dad would do if he told anyone...he would never tell anyone, because then dad would know and he would hurt us." Allison said. "He already hurts us! I hope he tells someone. Dad couldn't kill us all before the police came or something." 5 said. "But Klaus wouldn't want any of us to die." I said. "Think about it 5, would you risk killing one of us so the rest of us could get out?" Luther asked. Everyone was silent as Luther started putting new bandages on 5. His grip on my hand and lessened. "Myself maybe." He whispered. "Don't even say that!" I said with anger. "We're a family. We can't go on without each other...what would we do without you 5?" I asked, making 5 look me in the eye. "Promise us you wont try anything stupid! Even if one of us were able to get away Dad would find us. Maybe he even found Klaus and kil-I wouldn't put it past dad to kill him after running off." I said, tears in my eyes. 5 frowned and pulled me into a hug. "I promise. It would be stupid to try and escape. Dad would kill us all." He said. It was quite again as we hugged, and Luther left us to check over Vanya once Allison and Diego were done helping her. Taking on the role as our leader, making sure everyone was okay. "5. I know you mean well, but please don't let dad or mom hear you talking like that. Who knows what he would do if he heard you say that." Luther said. 5 nodded in understanding. Luther was giving him an order. Even though 5 and Diego were the two most likely to not follow Luther's orders I was glad to see him say yes to Luther for once. Vanya stood up and walked into her room, coming back out with Pogo. She pulled the other siblings over to us and we all sat in a circle, putting Pogo, the stuffed toy monkey in the middle. "Let's tell Pogo about our day before dad comes to get us for training." Vanya said, trying to lift the mood. I looked down at the stuffed monkey, the only toy that we had ever had. I could still remember our 6th birthday.

_Mom came into our rooms after dad went to sleep and she gave us the toy. "Happy birthday kids. Don't let your dad see him okay?" She had said before leaving us. Klaus was the one to name him. "Wh-what kind of name is Pogo?" Diego asked. "A good one, I like it Klaus." Allison said to a smiling Klaus._

I smiled at the memory as everyone took a turn telling Pogo about what had happened so far today. Even 5, who insisted he was too mature to talk to a stuffed toy took a turn today. Holding onto my hand as he talked to Pogo.

-Klaus Pov-

"You did a good job with the nurses Four." Spencer said as I sat on the floor with him. The nurses were really nice, and the doctor had given me some toys including some lego's and markers. Spencer had some paper and we were drawing on the floor of the hospital room. It was a bit hard with the IV needle in my arm, but after Spencer said it would help me feel better I let one nurse put it in my arm. It had pinched at first, but now I barley felt it as I drew on the floor. A knock filled the room from the door. I took a black marker and started writing on my hand, while Spencer stood up and went to open the door. I looked up to see Morgan walk in, with a lady. But she wasn't JJ. "This is Prentiss, Four. She is another FBI agent like us." I nodded. '_Geez, how many FBI agents are there?_'I asked myself as I waved to the lady. She smiled as she looked at my hand. "Hello to you too." She said with a chuckle. Morgan looked at my hands and saw that I had written 'hello' and 'goodbye' on my hands. "Getting creative with the markers I see." He said with a grin sitting on the ground with me. "I'm glad to see you let them put an IV in you. You will start feeling a lot better with that." He said. I nodded, and went back to drawing. "Four. How do you know how to spell? Did someone teach you?" Spencer asked. I nodded and spelled "Mom" on the paper I was drawing on. "So your mom taught you? Did she teach you anything else?" I nodded again. '_She teaches us in our lessons everyday. She says we're in the 3rd grade now. Except 5, he is taking 5th grade lessons._' Spencer sat back down on front of me, and I scooted my body closer to Derek when Prentiss sat down with him. She seemed alright, but I didn't trust her like Derek and Spencer, not yet. "Can I ask you some questions Four?" the lady asked. I looked up to Derek, and he gave me an encouraging smile and put his arm over my shoulders. I nodded yes to the lady and she smiled. "Thank you! It's just a few questions okay?" I nodded in understanding. "Can I ask you about the day that you escaped from where you were before?" I bit my lip, I couldn't talk about that. "Look buddy. We want to help the other kids who are still at that place. Are they your siblings?" I nodded, they were. "Can you tell us about them then? How many other kids are there?" Prentiss asked. I held up 7 fingers. "There are seven more?" She asked. I shook my head, holding up 4 fingers. And pointing to myself with the other hand. "Ohh, so there are seven including yourself?" I nodded. "Do you miss them?" Spencer asked. I nodded. I really did miss them. I hope they are okay. "Do you want to see them again?" Morgan asked. I nodded. '_I want to be with them again so bad. I should have tried to get them before I ran off. Dad is probably so mad that I left. What if he is hurting them because of me?_' I felt Morgan rubbing my back and I remembered to breath. I took a deep breath and felt my arms start to shake. "Four. Are you scared that if you help us your dad is going to hurt your siblings?" Prentiss asked slowly. I felt tears gather in my eyes as I nodded again. My heart started beating fast again, Spencer and Morgan didn't hurt me when I cried. But would this new lady be mad? "Don't worry buddy, remember what we said. We won't get mad when you cry okay?" Spencer said reaching across the drawings and patting my shaking arms. I struggled to take another breath and it turned into a sob. Morgan pulled me into his lap and I cried. I missed my brothers and sisters. I was such a failure. I didn't want dad to hurt them because of me. I couldn't stop myself from crying. I felt Morgans arms wrap around me and I hold onto his shirt sleeves with my hands as I continued to cry. I pulled my legs up around his waste, hoping no one would pull me away from him. Dad would always hurt me when I cried like this, but as I continued no one tried to hurt me.

-Spencer Pov-

I quickly moved around Derek and the boy and moved the IV pipe around so that it wouldn't get pulled out of his arm, and the boy didn't even notice as he sobbed into Morgans chest. He was holding my husband like a lifeline, and maybe he was his lifeline right now. Minutes passed, and eventually the boy calmed down. His breathing steadied out and I grabbed a tissue, wiping the tears off of his cheeks and the little bit of mucus from under his nose. Usually I would be repulsed by touching someone else's mucus, but it made my heart flutter with something unfamiliar to me as I cleaned the boys face. "Are you okay?" Morgan whispered to the boy. He closed his eyes. "My head hurts." He said. Morgan nodded. "I bet it does after that, why don't we put you on the bed so you can rest?" Morgan stood up, but the boy shook his head and held onto Morgan tighter than he already was. "Please -_sob_\- don't let me go - _hiccup_-." I felt my own heart break, and I'm sure Morgan's did too as he moved to sit on the couch instead. I helped with the IV. Prentiss stood next to me and nodded to the hallway. Morgan smiled to us, telling us we could go while he held the boy. We walked outside and shut the door. "God that was torture. The poor boy." Prentiss said looking through the window. "We can confirm our theory though, with that reaction." I said, lost in my thoughts. "You know, you and Morgan looked like a good pair of parents just then." Prentiss said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "What?" I asked. What did that have to do with the case. "After all of this is over, that boy is probably going to go into the foster system. And with everything he has already been through. It wont work out well for him...haven't you and Morgan been trying to find kids to adopt?" She asked me. Well yes we have been. But this would be a lot. This one boy alone would be a lot to handle with the emotional trauma, and we didn't expect to adopt multiple kids at once. "There are seven of them..." I said looking through the window. Looking at Morgan now rocking back and forth. Helping the boy fall asleep. "It's just a thought. But nothing can be for certain until the case is over." Prentiss said with a smirk. "But he sees them as his siblings...if they do go into the foster system what are the chances of them finding a family willing to take all seven of them? And with the circumstances already staggering...it doesn't look hopeful for them." I said. "Like I said it was just a thought, why don't we go back to the police station and update the team?" Prentiss suggested. I agreed and sent Morgan a text telling him what we were doing. I watched through the window as he looked at the text and spoke to the boy in his arms. I couldn't hide my smile as the boy lifted his head and waved to me with the hand that he had written 'goodbye' on. And as I left with Prentiss I knew one thing was certain. Morgan and I already loved that boy like a son. And even though I hadn't even met the other kids yet, part of me already loved them too.

-5's Pov-

I was laying on top of my sheets in my small room. Thinking about the conversation earlier with my siblings. For a few seconds I had let myself think that there was any hope for us. Because Klaus was able to get away. But where was he now? Was he actually safe? Or did dad find him and kill him for running away? I hoped it was the first option. That Klaus was able to find someone to help him. But I knew that my other siblings and I didn't have that kind of hope. No one was willing to help us. No one knew we even existed. '_No one loves you all. You exists because I let you exist._' Dads words ran through my mind. All we have is each other. And I couldn't risk losing any of them, even if it meant I was trapped here with them. It was better than being alone.


	3. Chapter 3: Just in time,almost

Luther awoke to someone shaking his shoulder. He sat up from the floor expecting one of his siblings, or his mom. He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and opened them to see his dad leaning over him instead. The boys heart sank when the man held his hand out for Luther to take. "Come on Number one. You will be sleeping with me for the rest of the night." The boy kept his face straight as he took his dads hand and was pulled out into the hallway. He knew that dad wouldn't like it if he showed any fear or sadness. Most of his siblings doors were shut, except for Klaus's and Vanya's. Hopefully she was all asleep and wouldn't know that dad had come to get him in the middle of the night. But he caught Vanya's eyes peaking out of the door and watching him. He didn't like it when his siblings knew that he was spending the night with dad. He did it the most out of the rest of them. He frowned as Vanya gave him a look of pity. It made him sick thinking that she knew what was about to happen. That anyone knew, and it was a silly thought. Because dad did this with all of them, but they never talked about it. Dad told them to never talk about their 'special time' together with anyone else. Luther followed dad into his bedroom and he shut the door locking it. Luther knew what he wanted him to do, but the boy waited his instructions. "Begin taking off your clothes and get on the edge of the bed for me...it's time you remind me why your my number one." dad said running his hand through his short blonde hair, the skin to skin contact made the hairs on the back of Luther's neck stand as he did as told. "good boy, right number one?" Dad asked. "Yes sir. For you, I'm a good boy." Luther said, trying to not let my voice shake. Never showing weakness, and never disobeying dad. Just like number one should.

-Allison Pov-

I was woken up by someone shaking me and I opened my eyes, ready to snap at one of my brothers until I saw that it was Vanya. The tears in her eyes made me forget my sudden anger as I sat up. "What's wrong?" I asked as I let her under my blanket. "Dad...he took Luther a few minutes ago." She whispered. My breath caught in my throat. "Don't worry. Luther is strong. He will be okay. He always is." I said laying us both down. "But you can sleep with me if it helps." I said, knowing she wanted too. And knowing what was happening to Luther, I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts either. As we lay under the covers I don't think that either of us slept, holding onto each others hand. I knew that Luther wouldn't be coming back to his bedroom tonight. Whenever dad got us in the middle of the night we never come back. And part of my brain wouldn't let me sleep knowing what was happening to him right now.

-The Next Morning-

-Spencer Pov-

I couldn't help but grin as I walked into the hospital room. Morgan and Four were both asleep on the hospital bed. Morgan was sat in the chair beside it, and was laying across the bed. While Four was sleeping under the covers, one of his hands holding onto Morgan's arm. I nudged Morgan and he slowly sat up, groaning as his back cracked in a few places. "Go onto the couch and sleep until he wakes up." I whispered as he stood up. He agreed, still partly asleep. And as soon as he was on the couch he was asleep again. I took the coffee cups that I had brought and sat them on the table beside the bed and took the chair that Morgan had been sitting in. In the three days that we had been here there were no leads. The team had looked through everything we could think of and there was nothing us leading to the people who did these terrible things. It seemed that this boy would be the only way to get to them. Today was going to be hard, because we were going to have to push him for answers. Part of me knew that it was going to be to help the other kids, but another part of me couldn't think about hurting this boy more than he already was. Making him go back to those places in his mind and re-live it. I heard a knock on the door and turned to see Hotch walking in. He was going to try and to a cognitive interview of Four's escape to see if we could get any information. He sat down beside me and looked over the boy. "So I hear that you and Morgan have become attached." Hotch said giving me a knowing look. I gave Hotch a sad frown. "Yea, we have. I haven't talked about it with Morgan yet but, I can't imagine him doing well in the foster system after everything that has already happened to him...but he has siblings. Morgan and I didn't talk about taking more than two kids, must less seven." I said running my free hand through my hair, the other was being held by Four. "You know - I'm not saying you should or shouldn't do anything - but you and Morgan both have vacation days saved up. And I could put in an application for your sabbaticals." I nodded. It was true that Morgan and I both had a lot of vacation days saved up, and a sabbatical could give us enough time to adjust adopting Four, and the other six siblings he has. "I'm just letting you know. But all of our attention should be on the case right now." Hotch said before excusing himself to get some coffee. I was left alone with my thoughts until I felt Four moving around. He groaned as he turned his face into the pillow, obviously not ready to be awake. I chuckled as I rubbed his back. "Want some breakfast?" I asked him. He nodded and sat up, rubbing his eyes as he looked around the room. His eyes landed on Morgan asleep on the couch and he visibly relaxed. "I'll text Hotch and ask him if he can find something for us or find a nurse to bring us some food." I said getting my phone out. "Who's Hotch?" He asked. I looked up at him in a bit of shock. He tilted his head in confusion and I smiled. "He is another FBI agent." I explained. He nodded and I sat back in my chair. That was the first time I could think of his talking without being prompted to, and without seeming frightened to speak. It was progress, and hopefully it wouldn't all be erased after the cognitive interview coming up.

-Diego's Pov-

We all sat at the table, eating our oatmeal that mom fed us every morning. But three chairs were empty. Klaus's, Luther's, and dads. Vanya told us that Luther had been taken to dad's room last night. But it was rare for him to be late to breakfast. It couldn't be good for Luther. The tasteless oatmeal was already hard to swallow, but even more so when dad and Luther finally did come down to eat. Seeing Luther made us all stop. He didn't make any eye contact with us as he sat down. But I knew that we were all staring at Luther's neck. It was covered in dark purple and blue bruises. Luther looked pale as he started to eat. Dad sat down as mom served him his coffee, neither looked at Luther as mom served dad his plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. Usually I was always jealous of dads meals compared to ours. But there was no way I could eat anything. Not now. "Number 2! Why have you stopped eating? Do you need to go to special training today?!" Dad asked with annoyance. I felt a shiver of fear run up my spine as my hand automatically moved, spooning another bite of the oatmeal into my mouth. But it felt like dirt as I swallowed it. I stole another glance looking over to Luther, I wasn't even sure if he knew where he was. His eyes looked so hollow. I used to be jealous that Luther was number one, and wondered why I was only one number away from being the best. But after our 5th birthday dad started taking us from our rooms late at night. I stopped wondering, and I was just happy that I wasn't number one. Some things just weren't worth the price. I don't think Luther would even want to be number one if he had a choice.

-Klaus Pov-

I was sitting on the hospital bed, and I felt nervous as the guy called Hotch sat in front of me. Even though he was smiling at me. I knew that you couldn't' always trust a smile. "I have a son that is close to your age. His name is Jack. You remind me a bit of him." Hotch said. I nodded, wondering where this was going. Spencer and Morgan were also in the room, but they were sitting behind Hotch. It was nice that they were in here with me, but why did they have to sit so far away? "So I am going to try something with you. It's called a cognitive interview. But I'm going to walk with you through the night that you escaped from your capture okay?" I frowned. "Four. We want to help your siblings get away like you did. You can help them if you talk with Hotch." Morgan said. I looked down at my hands, the words '**hello**' and '**goodbye**' were a bit smudged, but still there. Could I really help them? But I was the family disappointment. I had talked a few times already and dad hadn't come back, just like Spencer and Morgan said. They were protecting me. If I helped the FBI find my siblings they could protect them too right? I remembered one night I was sitting in the hallway with Five while everyone else was asleep.

_"Do you think we could ever escape?" Five whispered. I looked up from the floor where I was playing with Pogo. "Escape from where?" I whispered. "From here! In the books that mom lets me read kids don't grow up like this. They have parents who like them. And don't hurt them. They are free." I sat up in front of Five. "Dad is way to strong. We could never get away from him. But I'm okay with that as long as were together. I don't think I could even imagine a different life than this one." I said taking his hand in mine. Five scoffed, but was smiling as he held my hand. "Number Four, you are something else." He said. "My name is Klaus." I corrected him. "I can't believe Allison talked you all into making fake names for yourselves. Dad will punish you all if he ever finds out." Five said. "Is that why you don't want a name? Because your scared dad will punish you? He punishes us anyway!" I said. "It's not just that...you wouldn't understand." Five said folding his arms. "Try me, just because your smarter doesn't mean I won't understand...besides, who's number Four and who's number Five?" I asked teasing him. "Dad's ranking of us have no effects on me...and what is the point of naming ourselves if no one will ever know our names besides each other?" Five asked, a frown on his face. I nodded in understanding and let myself roll onto my back. I held Pogo above me and smiled at the monkey. "You have a point. But if you ever change your mind can I give you your name?" I asked. "And get a stupid name like Pogo? No thanks." He said with a smirk as he sat beside me. _

I blinked and heard someone calling my name. I looked up and saw all three of the FBI agents looking at me. I shook my head back and forth, physically shaking the memory from my mind and sat up straight. "I'll try my best." I said. The three guys looked pleased with me and Hotch told me to close my eyes. "Now, go back to the night that you ran away...what do you smell?" I opened my eyes and gave him a confused look. "Trust me, and answer my questions." Hotch said with a knowing grin and I agreed. I closed my eyes again. "It smells wet...it's raining. The air smells moldy, and wet...fresh." I said. "That's good, now look around you. What do you see?" Hotch asked in a gentle voice. "Nothing." My voice shook. "It's always so dark. Every time I go in there it's dark. I can never tell if my eyes are open or closed." I felt a hand on my shoulder and I opened my eyes. Morgan was sitting beside me now, and his hand was on my shoulder. I sighed and felt my body relaxing. I closed my eyes again. "Now tell me what you hear." Hotch said. "I hear the rain...and thunder. I hear the water dripping and a frog. I can hear it saying '_ribbet_' and bugs...they are buzzing all around me." I say, and I can hear it all again. The bugs, the frog, and the thunder. "Do you feel anything?" Hotch asked. "It's cold - and the floor is wet. The wood is old. It creaked when I stood up...my legs feel sore. I can't feel my toes because their cold. So are my fingertips." I said. "Why did you stand up?" Hotch asked. "I was so hungry. I wanted to eat, but I knew that dad would punish me...but I can't remember how long I had been in there, and whole body hurt I was so hungry." I felt my arms shaking and Morgan started rubbing them. My heart was racing. "It's okay. Remember your not there anymore. Your in the hospital with the FBI." Hotch said in a calming voice. I nodded, my eyes still closed. It was just as dark as the mausoleum. It was silent for a few moments before Hotch spoke again. "Do you know where you are? What type of building your in?" Hotch asked. "I'm in the mausoleum. That's where dad always does his special training with me." It was quite for a few minutes and I was tempted to open my eyes, but Hotch spoke again before I could. "So you stand up, what do you do after that?" He asked. "I couldn't see in front of me. But I knew that the mausoleum is old, and there was this weak part of the wall. I pushed against it until there was a gap big enough for me to push myself through. I got stuck, and I dug my hands into the ground to help pull myself out. The ground was muddy, and I slid around a few times. But I pulled myself out...I-I didn't know what to do next, but I was so scared." I took a few deep breaths and Hotch asked me another question. "What do you see?" He asked. "I see my house. I can see the kitchen, but I know that I can't go in because dad will kill me if he sees me." I felt Morgan's comforting hands on my back now. "What do you hear?" Hotch asked. "I hear the rain falling. And thunder. It's so loud. It hurt my ears, and I thought it was dad. He was coming after me with the shocker!...I was so scared I ran into the woods. But dads right behind me! I know it. I'm so stupid. Why did I try to run?! Dad's going to catch me. I have to keep running. I'm going to die!" I felt someone shaking me and I gasped opening my eyes. My feet had kicked the bed sheets onto the flood and Morgan was holding me down. "It's okay kid. Your in the hospital remember? You got away." He said looking me in the eyes. I took a few deep breaths and felt my heart racing in my chest. "But I left them...my siblings are still with him. I -_sob_-" I closed my eyes as tears ran down my face. I felt Morgan lift me into his arms and I latched onto him. "I left them -_sob_\- I'm so sorry!"

-Hotch Pov-

Morgan gave me a glance that told me he had the situation with Four handled. Spencer and I were both in the hallway minutes later and I was on the phone with Garcia. "Garcia. I need you to do a search for local homes that have mausoleums." I said. "Um, sorry boss. But I got nothing on record." She said after a few seconds. "Try either a large building on the grounds of larger homes or places that have at-home cemeteries." Spencer said, arms folded. "Okay, oddly enough more homes have that than you would think." She said through the phone. "Take out homes that have families living in them and homes in neighborhoods. This one would be in the woods, the boy said be ran through woods once he got out of the mausoleum." I said. "That narrows it down to three homes in your area." She said after a few more seconds. "Great. Send that information to everyone." I said before hanging up the phone. "We should be able to narrow it down from those three homes. If not we can get a warrant to search them all." I said. "I'll update Morgan once he has Four calmed down." Spencer said looking through the hospital window. "The boy did a good job. Make sure he knows that. We will call you once we have an address." I said patting the man on the shoulder. "You don't want our help narrowing down the homes?" Spencer asked. "It won't be that hard with only three. And once we do get an address Morgan will probably go with us while you stay here with the boy. I'll message you all when we have a lead." I said before leaving my two agents. They couldn't see it, but being a father and a profiler it was easy to see that boy was already theirs. And these other kids might be theirs after the case is over.

-Police Station, Rossi's Pov-

The team was looking over the owners of the homes that we had on our suspect list. "We have one married couple, but they are older. And the woman is in a wheelchair. So we can rule them out." I said looking over one file. "This file says that a single man owns the whole property and he is a comic book artist. Our profile is a couple so we should be able rule him out as well." Prentiss said from across the table. "And the third home hasn't been lived in for years according to records. So you think that this could be the place? Someone could be using the home without the owners knowing about what is going on in the house?" JJ asked looking up from her file. The phone started to ring and Hotch answered it. "Garcia. Tell me you have something." He said. "_I do in fact have a lot of things sir. I'm sending a file to you right now. I did some deep dive snooping on the owners of all the homes, and it turns out that our comic book artists isn't as single as his records say._" We all opened our I-pads and I flipped through the files till I stopped at a picture of the man who owned the home and a much younger blonde woman on his arm. It looked like a paparazzi photo. Everyone looked up at JJ at the same time and she looked confused as she looked at the photo. "Number Four said that I looked like his mom." She said thoughtfully looking at the woman in the photo. There was no denying that the two looked alike. The blonde hair, blue eyes, and skin tone. "What else do we know about...Sir Reginald Hargreeves?" I asked looking over the file of him. Garcia's voice came back to life from the speaker phone, "H_e is a successful comic book artist. He has written a lot of series that have been made into TV shows and movies. But he retired ten years ago...apparently he has been living in his home deep in the woods to enjoy his retirement in peace and riches. This guy basically vanished off the face of the planet after his announced retirement._ _The photo I sent you is the most recent one I could find and it was a paparazzi shot_." Garcia said, her voice slightly altered by the buzz of the phone. "The doctors said that Four was between the ages of seven to nine. Maybe his 'retirement' isn't what he says it is." I said, the dots connecting. "What do we know about the woman in the photo with Hargreeves?" Hotch asked. "_A whole lot of nothing. And I mean __**nothing**__. Like so much nothing that it is suspicious. From what I could find the only thing to know is that their relationship was confirmed the year that Hargreeves retired...no one knows anything else about her." _Prentiss stepped up. _"_Is it possible that she is a victim like the kids?" She asked. "Or she has hidden her identity to further help Hargreeves with whatever he is doing with the kids. Either way we need to find as much information on her as we can. Garcia, run her through facial recognition and see if you find anything." Hotch said. Garcia agreed before hanging up the phone. "I'd say we had better go pay the Hargreeves home a visit. Don't you?" I asked as everyone started suiting up. "I'll call the guys at the hospital and update them. Morgan will join us while Spencer stays with the boy at the hospital." Hotch said picking up his phone.

-Morgan Pov-

I pulled on my bullet proof vest over my shirt while Spencer got my other things ready. We were standing outside of Fours hospital room. We weren't telling him what was going on just yet, we didn't want him to be too emotional while waiting. He still needed rest, and he wouldn't be able to continue to do that if he knew we were going after his siblings. I got everything I needed and Spencer handed me my gun, loaded and ready. "Be careful." He said with a frown. "Oh come on pretty boy. I'll be okay. I always am." I said giving him a light kiss. I pulled away, but Spencer pulled me back in and we shared a deep kiss. My heart fluttered as we pulled away. "What was that for?" I asked. "Just in case. And you can say that you will come back no matter what...but just in case." Spencer said, giving me a hopeful smile. We always struggled with this part of the job. Every time we knocked down the door or chased down a killer, stalker, or crazy person. We were always putting our own lives on the line, but it was always worth it. I ran my hand through his hair and tugged him to where he was resting his head on my shoulder. "Get those other children out of that terrible house." He whispered to me. I nodded, my blood pumping through my veins with adrenaline. "Before I go...after all of this is over. What are we going to do?" I asked looking to Spencer. He gave me a knowing look. "It's impossible to know that until this is over...but you and I both know that the boy in that room-he is ours." I nodded. Fighting the tears, relief washing over me. "and he has brothers and sisters that could be ours too...Lord knows we aren't separating them after this." I said. My phone started ringing and I saw that JJ was calling me. "They must be here to pick me up." I said Spencer gave me a long hug. And I had to pull away first, breaking the hug. I walked down the hallway of the hospital, ready to go take this Hargreeves guy down.

-Ben Pov-

We had finished our training for the day and everyone was in their rooms getting ready for lunch. I was the first to arrive, because dad summoned me. I walked into the kitchen to see dad waiting for me, hands folded behind his back. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise as he walked over to me. "No lunch for you today Number 6. We are doing special training today." I frowned, my skin running cold. The cuts on my chest and torso burned as he took my arm and we both walked through the house. My heart was beating in my chest as he unlocked the door to the special training room. He shoved me in and I tripped over my feat, landing on my knees. "Take off your shirt and lay on your back on the table. It's time to see if those monsters will come out of the portal in your torso this time." Dad said walking over to the shelf and grabbing a knife. My legs were shaking, but I pushed myself up and did as told. Tears were running down my face and I was scared that he would get mad, but he either didn't notice or didn't care as I pulled off my shirt. Dad walked over and pushed me down onto the table, stuffing cloth into my mouth. "Now, lets begin our special training session for today." He said holding the knife directly above me.

-Morgan's Pov-

I had never seen Hotch drive so quickly before. The whole team besides Reid were in one car while some police officers were following us in the car behind us. We were on a dusty road, driving through the woods up to the Hargreeves house. My phone started ringing and I picked it up. "What do you got Garcia?" I asked. "_I ran the woman that is in a relationship with Hargreeves through facial recognition and you will not believe how thick this plot gets folks. The woman went missing ten years ago! Her name is Jordan Claire Robbins and she went missing one night after a shift at her part time job. She was working there while trying to get her acting career to take off. No leads were ever found and the case went unsolved. She looks a lot different in the photo with Hargreeves, and I guess the two pieces were never put together._ _Who can blame anyone though? Who would think that a famous comic book author would kidnap a random woman?_" "So she was the first to be taken by Hargreeves. He altered her so that she wouldn't be recognized by press." Prentiss said. "So is she a victim? Or is she working with Hargreeves and staged the kidnapping to explain her disappearance?" JJ asked. "It could be some form of Stockholm Syndrome. Considering she has been with Hargreeves for a decade." Rossi said. "Either way we have no idea what we are walking into. The most important thing is getting the kids out alive. That takes priority over everything else." Hotch ordered. I looked out the window as we got closer to the house and saw camera's hanging in trees. "Looks like they have eyes on us." I said pointing out the various camera's. "There goes our element of surprise." Rossi said with a frown as Hotch turned on the sirens. If we couldn't sneak up on Hargreeves then we would have to scare him instead.

-Third Person Pov, Hargreeves Home-

Grace walked into the hallway where the kids were getting ready for lunch. "Mom, what are you doing in here?" Number Five asked as I unlocked and opened the door. "It would seem that your father has some unexpected guests coming to the house. The camera's picked up two cars driving towards the house. Your father has issued a 'Code Red #4' You all know what that means." She said with a calm voice. The kids all stood at attention. "Where is Ben?" Vanya asked as the kids scattered to get their weapons and such. "He is in the special training room. Dad had to leave him in there. Number One you are instructed to go to him in his study room. While everyone else is to go to their posts." Grace said, her smile not breaking as the kids ran out of the hallway. "Now remember kids. Dad will not like it if you don't follow his orders. And his orders during a Code Red #4 is to kill any intruders. Is that understood?" The kids all stood in their line. "Yes Ma'am." They said together before scattering throughout the house. Some of the kids planned on following dads orders, while others wondered if these people were sent my Klaus. If there was any hope left to have.

-Hotch Pov-

"Your team takes the back while my team goes through the front door. It's a big house and they know we are here so be on guard." I told the police officers before my team and I walked up the front steps of the house. "Hargreeves! We have you surrounded. Come out with the kids now and no one has to get hurt!" I called out. And after a long and painful minute of silence I gave Morgan the signal and he kicked the front door in. We all went in guns held up, but from what we could see the house was empty. "Split up." I said.

-JJ Pov-

Hotch gave the order and I took the small hallway next to the stairs, I heard other members of my team going through other parts of the house. I kept my focus as I entered the hallway. It had a lock on the outside of the door. There were a bunch of closet sized rooms, and they all had pillows and blankets in them. "Seven." I counted outloud. This must be where the kids were kept. but where were they? One by one I opened each closet door, but none of them held any kids. I heard a door shut behind me and I spun around to see a child with long brown hair standing at the other end of the hallway. She had a gun in her hands and it was shaking slightly as she aimed it at me. My blood ran cold. "Dad says in a Code Red #4 you have to kill all intruders in the house." She said, her eyes not moving from me. "What is your name sweetie?" I asked, my mom voice turning on. "Number 7. Leave. So I don't have to kill you." She said, her voice shaking. "You don't have to follow your dads orders anymore...see watch." I said slowly setting my gun on the ground. "I'm one of the good guys. We're here to help you. We found your brother. He told us what has happened to you guys." The girls eyes widened. "Klau-Number four? Is he alive?" She asked, gun still pointed at me. "Yes, and he sent us here to help you. You don't have to do what your dad says. Put the gun down. And I will get you and your siblings out of this house forever." I said. "Can-can you help Number six?" She asked, the gun lowering. "Who is Number Six? Your brother? We want to help him. All of you." I said, "But only if you put the gun down okay?" The girl bit her lip nervously, but slowly put her own gun on the ground. "Good job. You made the right choice." I said picking my own gun back up and pocketing it. I walked over to her and took her gun, pocketing it as well. "Where is your brother?" I asked. "I think he is in the special training room." she said. "If he is he is hurt. He needs help!"

-Rossi Pov-

Prentiss and I took the kitchen together. We both walked in and I felt a gust of wind rush past my ear. I turned to see a knife stuck in the wall beside me! Both Prentiss and I held our guns up, looking for where the knife could have come from. "That was a warning. G-Get out now!" The voice sounded like a child's, and the slight stutter told Prentiss and I a lot as we stood back to back, covering each other. "You know we can't do that. We are here to help you. You don't need to be scared of us." Prentiss said. We didn't hear anything, but I heard the whistle of another knife and I pushed Prentiss down to the ground as another one flew through the air, cutting through the kitchen table. We both stood back up and we saw a young boy standing on the kitchen counter, a gun in one hand pointed at us, and another holding another knife. "That's your last war-warning!" He said. I held my hands up, setting my gun on the ground as Prentiss stood behind me, ready to cover me. "Why do you have to hurt us?" I asked. "It's a Code Red #4. Dad says we have to follow orders." The boy said, not budging. "You don't have to do what he tells you. We are the police. Your brother told us about your dad. We are here to help." Prentiss said. The boy looked at us with disbelief. "No. Dad killed my br-brother. This is a test. I won't be tricked!" He said, sounding more scared with each word. "It's not a trick. We promise. Number Four wants to see you again. That can only happen if you put your weapons down and come with us." I said slowly walking up to the boy. I could see the cracks starting to show as the boys hand shook. "Klaus...he's alive?" The boy asked. "He is. And we can take him to you, and get you and your siblings out of this house forever." I said. The boy looked shocked, but put down the knife and gun. "Even if your lying. anything w-would be better than staying here." He said as I took the gun and knife away from him. "We're not lying. Let us prove it to you." Prentiss said walking up to us. "You take him outside. I'll go join the rest of the search." I said. Prentiss agreed and the two started to walk out and I took my gun back off the ground and went to join the rest of my team.

-Hotch Pov-

Morgan and I took the stairs in the house. then split up into two separate hallways. I saw a lot of doors, most were closed. I started my search, and when I got to a locked door I took a few steps back and kicked it open. I saw a girl standing in the middle of the room, waiting for me. A gun pointed right at me. I held my own gun up and we were in a stand still. "You don't want to to do that." she said with a frown. "I don't -" I stopped talking when I felt the cold press of a gun barrel at my back. I didn't dare turn. "Put your gun down now." Another child's voice. But this was a boy. I held my hands up and slowly lowered the gun to the ground. "You two don't have to do this." I said. "Yes. They do. They must always follow fathers orders. Right kids?" The mom asked walking out from behind another door and standing behind the young girl. "Who are you?" The boy asked behind me. "My name is Aaron Hotchner and I am with the FBI. I am here to help you." I said, still not turning. "We don't need help. Number Five. Follow your fathers orders. You know what a Code Red #4 means!" The mom said. I frowned as the boy pushed the gun into my back, pushing me all the way into the room. Instead of shooting me he shut the door and I heard him kick my gun and it slid beside me. "How did you know we were here?" Number Five asked. "Number Five?! Are you disrespecting your fathers orders?!" You WANT to be punished don't you!" The mom shouted, pulling out a knife from behind her and holding it over the girls neck. I quickly bent down and picked up my gun, pointing it at the woman. "You make another move and I will shoot you. Another boy who goes by Number Four told us what is going on...what kind of mother lets her children be raised this way?" I asked, looking at the woman. "My name is Grace and I love my husband more than anything. I am willing to do anything for him." She said, the words sounding almost robotic. "No, your name is Jordan. You were kidnapped by Hargreeves ten years ago. What did he do to you? Did he threaten you like he does these kids? Are you just as scared of him as they are?" I asked. "NO! My name is Grace and I love my husband more than anything. I am willing to do anything for him." she said, the knife shaking in her hand over the girls throat. "Please mom! Don't hurt me." The girl said, tears running down her face. "Don't you hear your own daughter begging you for her life? It's not to late for you. We can get you the help you need. Hargreeves has no more power over you." I said, gun ready to fire. The woman seemed to think over my words, a single tear fell down her cheek and her whole body seemed to change. Something must have snapped in her brain, because she was no longer stiff or scared. She gave me a smile, too wide to be real. "My name is Grace and I love my husband more than anything. I am willing to do anything for him." she said. The knife moved across the girls throat and I fired my gun. Both women fell to the floor at the same time and the boy behind me ran up to the little girl. "Number Three! Allison! NO!" He cried out looking at the cut across her throat. I ran over and quickly looked at the woman, who's dead eyes were looking at nothing while the bloody and dark red spot on her chest grew bigger by the second. I turned back to the girl and saw that she was still alive. "I need a medic on the second floor ASAP." I said into my mic.

-JJ Pov-

I heard a gunshot and held onto Number Seven's hand tightly as she ran through a hallway. I needed to get her out of this house, but she said her brother was hurt and she knew where he was at so I was forced to follow her through the house. "This is the special training room." she said opening the door. I gasped when I saw a boy laying on the table. Blood was all around him, and a knife was sticking out of his torso. "I need a medic in here ASAP." I said into my mic running up to the boy. "Hey look at me okay. Help is on the way. you don't need to worry anymore okay?" I said looking over the boy. It looked really bad. He opened his eyes and looked up at me. "Your -_cough_\- not mom?" He whispered. "No. We're with the FBI. Were here to get you out of here." I said. "Klause...he did it." the boy said with a grin. "What is your name?" I asked, trying to keep him awake as help came. "Number Six-but my siblings call me Ben. Tell them I love them." He said, his eyes fluttering. "No. No Ben! Stay with me! You can tell them yourself. Ben! Stay awake!"

-Morgan Pov-

All of the other rooms were empty. I stood in front of the last room that Hargreeves could be hiding in. I read the words labeling the room. "**Personal Study:**** STAY OUT****"** I backed up and kicked the door, opening it. I saw Hargreeves standing behind a desk. He was cleaning his monocle with a cloth and looked surprisingly calm as I pointed my gun at him. "You have no idea what you have done do you?" He asked looking up at me. "Years of study and preparation are RUINED because of you all." He said walking around the desk. He didn't have any weapons in his hands as he stood in front of me. "You think you all are saving people. But you are wrong. I was trying to save everyone. And now it seems that you and your team have doomed us all." I frowned. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "You all can't see it because you are too stupid. But the way that I am training these kids is necessary. In order to save the world." He said. "you can tell us all about it when you come with us to the police station. Your surrounded. There is no use fighting this." I said. "Fighting is always useful. Right Number One?" I heard the click of a gun and turned to see a young boy with blonde hair standing behind me, gun in hand pointing right at me. I looked him over. He had bruising around his neck, pale, shaking. "You know what to do Number One. It's a Code Red #4." Hargreeves said from behind me. "I'm sorry- I have too." The boy said, his voice shaking. "No. No you don't have to." I said. "Your brother Number Four sent us here. We're here to save you all from that monster behind us. But we can only do that if you put the gun down." I said with a calm voice. "You don't understand. I am Number One...I have to protect everyone." The boy said, tears in his eyes. "No. You don't. You are not Number One. You are so much more than that." I said "NO! He is MY Number One. Now follow my orders! OR ELSE!" the man shouted. The boys hands were shaking as he held onto the gun. "I-I'm sorry. I can't - I have to protect me siblings. Dad says I have to be a good boy." The boy said.

_**-BOOM-**_


	4. Chapter 4: Together again!

-Rossi's Pov-

A second gunshot rang through the air as I was walking up the steps. I started running down the hallway where the sound had come from. I ran into the Study room to see Hargreeves laying on the ground. A pool of blood was slowly growing under him. Morgan was checking his pulse, but it was easy to tell the man was dead. "I'm sorry. I had to do it." The young blonde boy said, with tears running down his face and the gun still in his hand. "It's okay. Give me the gun and we will help you." I said kneeling next to the boy. He must be in some state of shock because he didn't look away from the mans body as he handed me the gun. "I-I'm Number One. that means I have to protect my siblings. I-I." the boy started to breath heavily and Morgan walked over. "Hey, it's okay. You did it. You don't have to be scared anymore. Your brother told us everything. You don't have to be Number One anymore." He said making the young boy look him in the eye. The boy sobbed unable to hold in his tears anymore, and Morgan pulled him into his arms. "Let's get you out of here." Morgan said standing up with the boy in his arms. "JJ and Prentiss are outside with some of the kids, and the medics are on their way." I said as Morgan walked by me. I pulled my phone out and typed something in my notes so that the boy wouldn't hear what I needed to tell Morgan. I handed him the phone and he read over the words. He frowned, but nodded in understanding before leaving the room with the young boy. I looked back at the words I had shown Morgan, before walking over to the body and kneeling down beside the now dead Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

**"Two of the kids are being rushed to the hospital. Looks bad. Keep the boy out of the other hallway so he doesn't see anything." **

-Spencer Pov-

I was helping Number Four dress in some pants and kid sized shirt that the nurses had brought. He had been asking if he could change out of the hospital gown for awhile, and it was a good distraction for him now as I waited to hear from the team. Morgan had called me telling me about what had happened at the house. Now the kids were all on the way here. Two were in critical condition, both of the kidnappers who were behind it all now dead. I pulled Four's head through the top of his shirt and he smiled as I straightened out his clothes. My phone rang again and I told him to wait with the nurse as I stepped outside the room to answer it.

"_Hey. We're here. Two of the kids were just taken back into surgery. But the other four are with me. I figured it would be best to bring them to Four's room._" JJ said as I held the phone up to my ear.

"Yea that would probably be best. Is Morgan with you?" I asked. My hands were starting to sweat, a lot of feelings were stirring inside of me knowing that I would be meeting the other kids in a matter of moments. These kids could very potentially be apart of the new family Morgan and I planned on building.

"_Yes. We're stepping in the elevator now. See you soon_." JJ said before hanging up.

I hung up as well and walked back into the room. "Four, can you come here?" I asked getting on my knees. He walked over to me. "What's going on Spencer? You have been acting weird all morning." He said folding his arms. "I know. It's because my team went to get your siblings out of that house you were trapped in...Your siblings are here at the hospital now. Two of them were a bit hurt so some doctors are looking over them, but they are all here." Four looked shocked at my statement. "They got out?! I can see them?" He asked. "Yes, you did it four. You helped save them." The boy had tears in his eyes, a knocking sound filled the air and we both turned to the door. It opened and four more kids were standing with JJ and Morgan. They all were just looking at each other. Like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The four kids looked a little beat up, but the worst was the blonde boy, who had bruising around his neck. One boy with short brown hair walked up to Number Four and pulled him into a hug. "You did it Klaus." He whispered. They both started crying and the other kids ran into the room. All of them hugging each other. "Your alive Klaus!" One girl with long brown hair and bangs said with a big grin as they hugged. "W-we thought that dad had killed you!" Another boy with dark skin said hugging him. The tallest boy with blonde hair walked over last. I looked over the bruising on his neck as he pulled Klaus into a hug. I stood up and walked over to Morgan, giving him a kiss and hugging him. "We did it pretty boy." He whispered, sounding choked up as we both looked over the kids as they reunited. "what about the other two kids?" I whispered. Morgan turned to JJ and she said that she could watch over the kids. He pulled me into the hallway. "They are both in bad shape. Another girl's throat was cut by the woman who was taken by Hargreeves. And another boy was stabbed multiple times in the torso and chest when we got there...it doesn't look good. But they are both still alive right now." I sighed. "And the adults?" I asked. "Both dead. Hotch shot the woman trying to save the girl. And the young blonde boy in the room shot Hargreeves himself." I looked through the window into the room where all the kids were and I frowned. "Apparently his 'dad' told him that he was to kill us, but he shot Hargreeves instead. He said it was his responsibility to protect his siblings. So he shot him to save his brothers and sisters." Morgan said. "That is from the emotional abuse he and his siblings have suffered. He felt as if he had no choice...I don't think he will get in any trouble for that." I said. "No, but this is a huge mess. The whole time we were driving here the kids refused to be separated, and they kept asking about their sibling Klaus. Which is Number Four's given name...There will be a lot of court dates and documents and legal stuff that the adoptive parents will have to put up with." Morgan said counting things on his fingers. "The odds really aren't in their favor...unless we take them in." I said looking at Morgan. He nodded. "You think we can do this? Take care of these kids, with all this baggage they are bringing with them?" He asked. "I think we are better equipped than a lot of other foster parents would be...and I can't imagine them being separated. But the only way to keep them together is if we take them. There is no way they would survive the foster system after all this." I said. "We can talk about all that later, but we're on the same page about this yea?" Morgan asked. I nodded yes, and he kissed me. "For now all we can do it wait and see if the other two kids survive." I nodded. "But this is it isn't it? We're going all in for them aren't we?" I asked with a slight grin, despite the whole situation. "Yep, pretty boy. I wouldn't have it any other way."

-Klaus Pov-

"So your name is Klaus?" Spencer asked as I sat beside Five. The nurses were checking over everyone like they checked over me when I first got to the hospital, but they let us all stay together in my room. "Not really. Allison was the one to suggest that we make up names for each other. We weren't allowed to call each other by our names, but we always did it when it was just us." I said. We were all in my hospital room. Nurses were checking over my siblings who were in here, and I was glad that they let us stay together in this room as Five held onto my hand. "What are your names then?" Spencer asked, looking over at Diego and Vanya who were sitting to the other side of me. "I'm Vanya." She said, I smiled as she held Pogo in her hands. I'm glad no one forgot our only toy. "D-Diego." My brother said, not looking at Spencer, but watching one nurse as she was working with some needles. "Five." my other brother said from my other side. "You didn't want another name besides Five?" Spencer asked. "He didn't think it had any point if we were stuck in the house." I said and I felt Five kick my knee. "Klaus! Geez, tell them everything why don't you?" Five said with a frown. "Why not? They saved you all...we can trust them. They aren't like dad and mom. They are with the FBI." I said shrugging my shoulders. Spencer smiled and I poked his cheek, giggling at his reaction. "Why are you smiling like that?" I asked. "I just haven't seen you so...yourself. It makes me happy to see you like this." He said patting my shoulder. I smiled and Luther walked over to us. He was leaving the room to start his 'special' check up. That's what the nurse called it, but I knew what that check up was and I understood why Luther wanted to do it alone. "You did a good job Number Fo-...Klaus." He said pulling me in for a hug. "Oh, my dear brother how kind. I'm just glad we're together." I said before Luther left. "We're not all to-together yet." Diego said with a frown. "But we will be soon." I said, taking a hold of Diego's hand. "I sure hope so." Five said with a frown before excusing himself to the bathroom. I watched him walk into the bathroom and I frowned. "What are you thinking Klaus?" Spencer asked. "Five is acting oddly." I said kicking my legs back and forth on the bed. "Well it is a-an odd day." Diego said teasing me. "I'll check up on him okay." Spencer assured me before walking over to the bathroom himself. "Do you really trust these guys?" Vanya whispered. I nodded. "They helped find you all...I didn't think I could get you all the help you needed. I thought I would be alone forever-but now your here! Because of them." I said with a grin. "Well if you trust them so do I." Vanya said, always the easy going sister compared to the rest of us. "I-I'm not sold. What do they want with us?" Diego asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "These people aren't like mom and dad. I don't think they want anything from us." I said. Both Vanya and Diego looked confused and I sighed. "It's hard to explain. But maybe you will get it after spending time with them like I have." I told Diego. "Alright honey. I need to put this needle in your arm now, so you can start getting water in your body so you can feel better." One nurse said walking over to Diego. The young boy frowned at the needle and I held his hand. "He is really scared of needles." I said, Vanya took the boys other hand. "Needles look scary don't they. But you can be brave right Diego?" The nurse asked. "Duh, I'm no baby. I can do it." Diego said, clearly not appreciating the baby voice the nurse was using to talk to us. The nurse told him to stay still and both Vanya and I werne't shocked when Diego fainted before the nurse could even put the needle in his arm. Vanya and I caught him before he could fall forward off of the bed and we rolled him onto his back. "It would be easier to just do it now before be wakes up." I advised with a wink to the nurse, who looked very bewildered.

-Five Pov-

I shut the bathroom door and turned on the water, washing it over my face. I needed to calm down. But I couldn't stop the images in my head every time I blinked. I was in the saftey of this hospital, no longer in that damned house! I closed my eyes as the water rushed over my hot cheeks and face.

_Allison. Her throat open, the sound of her wet gasping breaths were ringing in my ear._

Someone had washed the blood off of my hands and given me a change of clothes. But I could still see it.

_The blood covering the floor. Mom looking up at the ceiling. Dead._

I gasped, '_breath Five breath!_' I whispered to myself. I heard a knock on the door through the buzzing sound and I took a second to collect myself before opening the door. That FBI agent that Klaus was so attached to was at the door. But instead of pulling me out he walked in and shut the door back. "What are you doing?" I asked, standing in a defense position we had learned from training. "I just wanted to talk privately. You and me." He said taking a seat on the toilet after lowering the cover. "What do we need to talk about?" I asked folding my arms. "Nothing really. But what you witnessed...it's traumatic. It's okay to feel whatever feelings you are right now." I frowned. "You don't know what I've seen." I said with a bite. "Your right. I don't know. But I do know you are young, and you spent your whole life trapped in that scary house. This is a lot for anyone to go through, much less someone your age." I took a step away from Spencer. "I'm stronger than you think. I can deal with it. Age doesn't make a difference" I said turning away from him. "I know your strong. You would have to be strong to live through that torture...but you want to be strong for your brothers and sisters right?" Spencer asked. "I have to be strong for them! Luther is our leader but I'm the brains. I always made sure we were together. That we were okay!" I said. "You did. And it's hard to wrap your mind around it, but it's over. Your dad - Hargreeves -is dead. You and your siblings will never be trapped again." I blinked. The feeling rushed over me like a wave crashing into me. Spencer was suddenly in front of me on his knees. "You don't have to hold everyone else anymore. Let us hold you now." He said. I should be happy. We were finally out of that terrible house. But I had never felt so lost and helpless. "What-what happens now?" I asked, my voice breaking. "I'm not exactly sure. No one is. But it's okay to not know, and to be a bit scared. The uncertain feeling of it all is awfully scary isn't it?" I nodded. "Do you mind. If I hug you? Don't feel like you have to let me. It's a form of comfort if you want it...and you can have that now." Spencer assured me. Could I really have that now? A sob got caught in my throat and I leaned into Spencer's arms. He wrapped me up in his arms and I cried. I couldn't hold back the sounds coming out of me as I let Spencer hold me. I felt protected, wrapped up. Like dad really couldn't hurt me anymore.

"_Never let the enemy see you cry Number Five! Never show them your weakness._" Dad would say to me.

But I didn't feel weak right now. Everything else still felt so heavy on my shoulders. But right now, this, being held and crying. Felt so freeing.

-Hotch Pov-

Rossi and I were looking around the house, gathering evidence and all the information that we would need for the reports, paperwork, and anything else we would need to wrap up the case. I was in the Study Room, looking over the papers and research that Hargreeves had. I found one drawer under his desk that was locked. I started digging around until I found a hidden key and I opened the drawer. "Comics?" I said pulling them out. I started reading through them and I connected the dots. "Rossi." I called out. moments later Rossi walked into the room. "This whole place deserves it's own spot in hell. There are children's posters hung up teaching the kids how to fight in combat...and I don't even wanna go back in the _special training room_." Rossi said walking over, looking a bit pale. "And I think I found out why. Check this out." I said handing him one of the comics. He started reading through it and looked up at me after flipping through a few pages. "These characters look just like the kids do. But they all have powers in these?" Rossi said. "I think that Hargreeves must of has some sort of mental break or something. I think he was training these kids to become super hero's." I said doing more digging. "It says here that Number six can summon monsters from a portal in his torso...explains the stabbings. He was trying to get the kids to develop these powers." Rossi said looking over the comics. "Check this out." I said finding a stack of notebooks in another locked drawer. Each had a number written on the front of it. "Could have been a form of Schizophrenia or some type of Psychosis disorder. He was around the right age to develop symptoms of those mental illnesses ten years ago." I said. "We won't get the answer from the man himself, can't say I'm too upset about that...I just hope the boy will be okay." Rossi said with a frown. "I think we have enough evidence here to say that the boy is innocent...and maybe enough to figure out the mental break that this man had to make him believe that these kids had super powers." I said with assurance. "Oh." Rossi said reading through the comics. "And why he thought that they were going to be the key to stopping the apocalypse." I raised an eyebrow at that. "So in his mind he was trying to save the wold by torturing children..." I said with a frown.

-Morgan Pov-

I stood outside the kids hospital room waiting for the doctor who just got out of surgery with the young girl. The kids were mostly asleep, and I looked into the room through the window to see Spencer laying on one of the beds with Klaus and Five sleeping in either side of him. While Vanya, Luther, and Diego were sharing the other bed. Luther was awake, glancing up nervously every few seconds while Diego and Vanya slept beside him. Just like Klaus when he got here days ago they didn't think that they would be allowed on the bed, but knowing what had happened to them and having Klaus's trust was helping them in this transition a lot better than Klaus had. I stood up straight when I saw the doctor walking over to me. I shook his hand and he let out a heavy sigh."It was touch and go for hours...but she's alive. In one of the recovery rooms down the hallway." I felt my whole body relax at the news and I leaned against the wall. "If the woman would have cut any deeper she would have been dead. But whoever shot the woman saved this girls life. She may not have a strong voice for the rest of her life, but she's alive. It all depends on the healing process now." I nodded, making a mental note to call Hotch as soon as I could. "Now for the boy - Ben...he is still in surgery. There is a lot of torn tissue and other cuts that are giving us trouble with stabilizing the kid...I wouldn't get their hopes up for him." The doctor said gesturing to the room where the kids were resting. "But as soon as we know something new I'll let you all know." From good news to bad I let my shoulders sag down. I nodded, and the doctor gave me a comforting pat on the shoulder before showing me to Allison's room.

-The Next Morning-

-Allison's Pov-

I slowly felt like I was being pulled away from something. I felt something holding me down, but when I tried to move my body wouldn't. I opened my eyes, and I tried to turn my head. "Hey, don't move too much okay Allison?" I blinked as I felt something move under me, pushing me up into a sitting position. As I rose up I saw Luther standing beside the bed I was in and I smiled. "Your alive." He sighed, smiling. I tried to talk, but I felt a tug in my throat and tried to look down, but something was holding me still. "Hello Allison. My name is Prentiss. I'm one of the FBI agents that helped your siblings. Do you remember what happened?" A lady said entering my line of vision. I frowned, thinking back.

_"Please mom! Don't hurt me." I had begged her. Then - _

"It's okay. Don't worry. Your okay now. You are in the hospital and no one can hurt you anymore." The lady-Prentiss said running a calming hand over my arm. I took a few deep breaths through my nose and tried to calm down. I looked around the best I could without moving my neck, seeing that I was in a hospital. We were outside of the house, out of the woods. Hopefully far away from dad and mom. "Here. Spencer said that you could use this to talk to us till you can talk on your own again...the doctor said that you would be able to eventually if the healing process goes well." Luther said handing me a notebook and marker. I smiled and wrote something down on the paper. and showed it to them.

_**"Where are my brothers and sister?" **_

"They are all in the other hospital room. Ben is still getting better so he is with the other doctors. But we're all here. We all made it." Luther said with a smile. I began writing again.

_**"Can I see them?" **_

"We are taking turns. You are still healing, so we don't want to overwhelm you. So your siblings will be visiting you one at a time. But they are all excited to see you." Prentiss said with a grin. "We are all glad to see you awake." I couldn't help but smile. It was all a bit overwhelming. And I was a bit scared, but alive. And my siblings were too. I never thought the possibility of getting away from that house was real. I hoped I wasn't dreaming as Prentiss helped me take a sip of water.

-Spencer Pov-

"It's like I'm looking at a completely different boy." I whispered to JJ. She and I were sitting on the couch in the hospital room. I watched as Klaus posed their stuffed toy Pogo on top of his head, while Vanya tried to draw them on some paper in front of her. The siblings were all entertaining themselves one way or another while waiting. Diego was currently in Allison's room. He was the last to visit her after she got out of surgery. She would have to stay in the hospital for a few extra days. While the rest of the siblings were cleared to leave after tomorrow. But we knew that we would be staying close while Allison was still here. They were all so paranoid about leaving each other. They refused to go anywhere by themselves. They were attached to each other hips. I could tell from my profiling that part of it was just how they grew up, but part of it was their fear. They didn't know what was going to happen next. The unknown was scaring them. "He really has opened up now that he is with his siblings, but anytime that he can't see you or Morgan he gets worried." JJ said. "I think that Hotch is going to want some answers soon on what we are planning to do with the kids." I whispered. "And what are you going to do?" JJ asked. I was about to answer when I hear the sound of breaking glass. We both looked up to see Vanya standing next to the glass that she had knocked off of the table with wide eyes. "I-I'm sorry." She said with tears in her eyes as I jumped up. "No, it's okay. You were just trying to get some more markers right?" I asked with a calm voice. "Y-yea. I promise. My elbow hit the cup and it fell..." she said, her hands wrapped tightly around the markers she had in her hands, slightly shaking. "Hey- take a deep breath for me okay? I'm not mad. No one is. I'm not going to hurt you for an accident...I will never hurt you." Vanya followed my breathing until she started calming down, the fear of getting punished seemed to lessen with every breath. "We will start cleaning up." Luther said walking over. "Oh don't worry. We wouldn't want you to cut your finger or anything." I said turning to him, but he frowned and I connected the dots. "But, if you do _want_ to help I would really appreciate it if you got the broom and dust pan from the closet over there-Klaus! Don't run over here there is glass!" I said catching the boy in my other arm that wasn't around Vanya. "Oh, when did that happen?" He asked looking at the mess. I let out a heavy sigh. "You didn't hear the glass brea- You know what? Never mind. Why don't you get everyone to put on their hospital slippers till we get the glass up okay?" I asked. "Sir, yes sir!" Klaus said with a goofy salute before going to get the pile of hospital slippers to hand out. "Are you alright Vanya?" Five asked walking over, carefully walking around the glass. Vanya sniffled, but nodded her head as she held onto my shirt sleeve for balance to put the slippers on. "Must be nice to have such a good brother who watches out for you." I said gesturing to Five, he blushed and looked away from me folding his arms. As I helped Vanya and Five put on their hospital slippers so they wouldn't cut their feet on the glass I looked up and saw JJ smirking at me. "_I think I just answered her on what Morgan and I plan on doing with the kids...our kids._" Diego walked in and looked over the room and rolled his eyes. "I L-Leave for thirty minutes and you all manage to make this much of a mess? I-I'm impressed." He said as I walked over to him and Klaus handed him a pair of hospital slippers. "These are weird looking...even for your Klaus" He said holding them in his hands. "Just wear them until the glass is cleaned up. Okay?" I said. He put on his shoes he told me Morgan was waiting for me in Allison's room. JJ assured me that she had them handed and I left the room. But not before leaning down and telling Klaus that I would be back soon and patting Diego on the head, thanking him for relaying the message.

-Morgan Pov-

I sat beside Allison's bed as she slept. She had fallen asleep right after Diego left. She had been so eager to see her siblings, but she was still low on energy and needed more sleep. So when Spencer opened the door and smiled to me I got up and gently shut the door once we were in the hallway, but not without making sure we could see Allison sleeping through the window of the room. "Anymore word on Ben?" Spencer asked. "No. The doctor did say that the surgeon in there right now is doing his best. This is the longest surgery he has ever performed. And on the youngest person for multiple stab wounds...I really think we need to be ready to tell the kids bad news." I said folding my arms. "We don't know that yet...what do you want to tell Hotch?" Spencer asked. "What do you think we should tell him?" I asked. Spencer bit his lip nervously and I was suddenly reminded of how long this case had drawn out. How long Spencer and I had gone without time alone. I must have made a face because Spencer rolled his eyes. "I always forget how you get when I bite my lip." He said. I shrugged. "What can I say? Your my pretty boy." I said with a grin. Despite everything he blushed and looked into the room where Allison was. "I think we both know that we're not leaving these kids." He said. I agreed. "So I'll tell Hotch we are taking all our vacation days?" I asked with a smile. "Or he could apply for our sabbaticals?" Spencer said. I hummed, "Good idea. Then it's a payed vacation." I said with a chuckle. I pulled Spencer into my chest and he rested his hands on my chest. "It won't be a vacation at all. We really have our work cut out for us with these kids. We're really doing this. We're starting a family." I said, a spark of joy heating up in my chest. "A totally dysfunctional one...but it's ours. And it will be perfect." Spencer said giving me a kiss. It had been too long sense I got to kiss him. I brushed my hand through his hair, making the kiss deeper. I wanted to soak in every little slip of the lip that we could get right now, but an awkward cough interrupted us and we both turned to see a doctor standing behind us. Spencer blushed and tried to fix his hair while I smirked. "Sorry about that Doctor. What can we do for you?" I asked. "I'm actually here to tell you that the surgeon just finished with Ben." I held onto Spencer's hand. Preparing for the worst, and hoping for the best news.


	5. Chapter 5: The Missing Number 6

The Doctor left us after delivering the news on Ben and we took a moment to ourselves in the hallway, to process the information with each other. "I'll go to the kids room and tell them, while you stay here with Allison. I know you haven't had much time with her yet." Morgan said hugging Spencer, he let the younger man's head rest on his shoulder without a word and they took a few more seconds to just be together. Spencer walked into Allison's room and Morgan watched him take the chair that he had been sitting in and take the young girls hand. She looked so peaceful sleeping soundly, if you could look past the bandage on her neck. Morgan let out a heavy sigh before walking down the hall to the kids room.

-Luther's Pov-

I was helping the FBI agent, JJ, put the last pieces of the broken glass that Vanya had accidentally broken into the trash bin. "You are so helpful Luther! Do you enjoy helping people?" JJ asked. I nodded yes, not feeling quite comfortable to talk a lot with her, or anyone in this hospital, just yet. JJ thanked me again before walking over to check on the others, and I stood up walking closely behind her. I didn't know who these people were, but why were they acting like it was their job to watch over us? That's my job. It's always been my job as number one to make sure that all my siblings are okay. Klaus noticed me walking over and he ran into my chest with an 'oof'. "Why the long face number one?" He asked. "I'm just...worried." I said, letting him stand under my arm. "About that?" Vanya asked. "What isn't there to be worried about?" Five asked sliding off of the bed he had been sitting on. "We have no parents, no home, and two of our siblings are hurt. We haven't even seen Ben yet!" He said folding his arms. Klaus shrugged. "It's okay. Morgan and Spencer will take care of us." He said with an easy going grin that somehow calmed my nerves a tiny bit. "H-how do you know? It's just their job to save people. They are j-just doing their jobs. They don't care about us like mom did." Diego said with a frown. "_Mom_ \- didn't care about us. She just did whatever dad told her to do..." Five said looking away from the group. I could tell that if they kept going a fight was going to start, so I stepped up between Diego and Five. Klaus ducked under my arm, probably not wanting to be in the middle of the two siblings. "There isn't anything we can do about mom and dad or our situation...all we can do right now is wait for Allison and Ben to join us. You two don't want to be fighting when they come back do you?" I asked. Both of the guys seemed annoyed with me, but dropped it and sulked in different corners of the room. "How about we go out for a walk around the hospital after Morgan and Spencer get back? You guys have been in here for a really long time. You're probably getting a bit stir crazy." JJ said with a smile, trying to lighten the dark mood in the room. "We spent our whole lives trapped inside a house, we're past '_stir crazy_' I don't wanna walk around." Five said facing away from us. "I - uh would like to walk around. I think it would be fun." Vanya said from her spot beside Klaus. "Yea! Now that were out of the house we should explore!" Klaus said holding Vanya's hand. Before anyone could give their opinion the door opened and we turned to see Morgan walking into the room. He could tell that the mood wasn't light as he shut the door and sat down on the floor beside Diego. "What's going on here?" He asked, an eyebrow quirked up. "Nothing." Both Diego and Five said at the same time, and I couldn't stop my eyes from rolling if I tried. "Yea - sure. Well I have an update on Ben." Morgan said, getting everyone's attention.

-Morgan Pov-

The kids all circled around me and sat down, Klaus climbed into my lap and Vanya leaned into my side while the other three sat in a small half circle in front of me. I pulled Klaus closer to me and hoped that he didn't feel my heart beating anxiously in my chest. "Ben is out of surgery...and he is really hurt. When he was getting hurt he-" Five interrupted me, "When he was in his special training getting stabbed with a knife by dad." He said, correcting me. I sighed. "Yea, when _that_ was happening Ben got stabbed in the stomach. The doctors had to work really hard to seal that hole up so it wouldn't hurt him. But it's going to be a long time before he is back to normal. He will have a special diet for probably the rest of his life. But he is okay. And you guys can visit him tomorrow. He is sleeping right now or we would let you see him, but he needs sleep right now." The kids all absorbed that news differently. Vanya, Five, and Klaus just seemed happy that he was alive. Diego looked angry, but that was probably towards the dad. Luther on the other hand seemed sad, and when I looked closer I could see that he was trying to stop himself from crying. After the kids asked a few more questions I checked the time and was surprised. JJ smirked at me as she opened the window curtains to show that it was dark outside. "I'll help you get them ready for bed before I head back to the hotel. I'll check up with Rossi, Prentiss and Hotch and see what they have found so far in the house." She whispered to me as I grabbed some PJ's from the bag of clothes the nurses had loaned us. Getting the kids ready for bed hadn't been hard the past few nights. They were well behaved, too much so for kids their age. And I knew that it was from the fear that they experienced from breaking rules in the house. I was determined to give these kids some of the youth they had lost living with that evil man. While getting everyone ready I noticed that Luther's hands kept twitching and he couldn't seem to stay still. He was nervous, or emotional about something. And sense he was fine before I told the group about Ben I figured that I needed to talk to him about it. I grabbed Luther after he had finished brushing his teeth, before he changed into his PJ's and told JJ that we would be back. She understood what I was doing and said she would get the others into bed. I took Luther's hand as we left and he looked over his shoulder at the room his siblings were in until we turned the corner of the hallway. I could tell he was nervous. "Where are we going sir?" He asked. "I thought you might wanna go on a walk, you're the only one who hasn't left that room except to visit Allison. I want you to stretch your legs." I said. Luther didn't reply, but held onto my hand as we walked outside and found ourselves sitting on a bench beside the hospital. "So, tell me how your feeling about all this." I said leaning back casually. Luther looked at me with confusion. "Why? Feeling about what?" he asked. "I just want to know. I care about you Luther. I want to make sure your okay." His face changed to a thoughtful one after that and he subconsciously rubbed at the bruising around his neck. "I feel...bad." He finally said, clearly nervous. "That's okay. Elaborate?" I asked. He started to twiddle his thumbs. "I'm the reason that Number Three and - Allison and Ben - are hurt." He said, his eyes watering. "Why do you think that?" I asked, my heart breaking. The boy clenched his fists over his legs trying to hold it all in. "It's my job to protect everyone. I failed. If I did my job right as Number One Allison and Ben wouldn't be hurt." He said, his voice getting weaker as the tears got bigger in his eyes. I got off of the bench and knelled in front of Luther on the bench, making him look me in the eyes. "Luther. This is not your fault. You have to believe me. You are so much more than a number. You are Luther. You are a good person, and that person who made you do all those things is not your dad." He blinked and a tear fell from his eye down his cheek. "He did terrible things to you. And yet you are still such a good person you-" NO!" Luther shouted covering his ears. "I'm not good. I'm dirty! I can't be a good boy anymore because he is g-gone." I frowned. "Luther. What you did for that man doesn't make you a good boy, no matter what he said. He - I know what it's like to want to please a man who you look up to. But what he did - what he made you do was so wrong. But it doesn't make you a dirty person." He uncovered his ears and looked up at me. "Y-you don't know what he did..." He said, looking away from me. "I do. I know that he touched you where no one should touch you at your age. And I know what that's like because the same thing happened to me." He looked shocked at me. "R-really?" He asked. "Yea, and I let it happen because I thought that I had to...but you don't have to anymore. You can still be a good big brother without doing that stuff ever again." He sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I -_hic_\- I didn't protect Allison and Ben. They are hurt because -_sob_\- I wasn't good enough." He said, struggling to say the words through his tears. "Hey. That's not true either. No matter how strong, brave, and heroic you are you can't stop bad things from happening to good people sometimes. You are a good person. Even after your dad told you to shoot me...you didn't. Because you have a good heart." I said tapping my finger on his chest where his heart was beating. And that seemed to break the dam that Luther was holding because he started sobbing, and he cried out as he tried to dry his face. But the tears kept falling, and to my surprise he leaning into me and let me wrap my arms around him. He shook against me as he cried, and cried. It was heartbreaking and relieving all at once as he let it all out. I wasn't keeping up with the time, but eventually he calmed, and he was resting against me as I stood up, holding him in my arms. I could still hear him sniffling as he wrapped his arms around my neck, burying his face in my shoulder. He had used the last of his energy crying, and I wasn't surprised that he was now so tired. Seeing as he didn't sleep much sense getting here. Always watching over the other siblings and waiting for news on Allison and Ben. I held him as close as I could, a type of protectiveness that I had never felt before bubbling in my chest as I rubbed his back with one hand while the other supported his lower half. I walked back into the hospital and as we got back to the hall the kids room was in Luther's body relaxed against mine. By the time I was struggling to open the door the kid was sound asleep, and as JJ walked over to open the door for me I saw that the other kids were all in the beds asleep as well. I couldn't help but chuckle at the positions they were in. Five and Klaus were sharing one bed, and Klaus had been moving in his sleep. His legs laying over Five's torso but neither of them looked like they were about to fall from the bed or showed any signs of being uncomfortable so I didn't try to move them. While Diego and Vanya were cuddled up together, Vanya's cheek resting against Diego's chest as they slept. "Looks like he wore himself out." JJ whispered looking at Luther with a bit of sympathy. I nodded and took a seat on the couch, refusing to let the boy out of my arms. I looked down at him as he slept, looking more relaxed then I had seen him sense getting him out of that terrible house. JJ smirked before quietly leaving the room to return to the hospital. I leaned back and carefully laid sideways on the couch without disturbing Luther. And I let the steady rise and fall of Luther's chest against mine and the soft sounds of the other children's breathing (and Klaus's soft snoring) across the room lull me to sleep as well.

-The Next Morning, Rossi's Pov-

"Looks like we have quite the case on our hands." I said as Hotch and I ate breakfast together in the hotel our team was staying in. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. We had been looking over all the papers that we could find in that house and it turns out that Sir Hargreeves did in fact buy the kids off of some kind of black market system. "If this is going the direction that I think it is we are about to uncover a whole secret orphan black market." Hotch said, sounding both relieved and stressed out at the idea. I could understand what he was feeling, if there really was something like illegally selling babies to random people going on in America it needed to be stopped. But it was a big market. And from the forms we had found there were at least 100 people involved in this scandal. "We really have our work cut out for us." Hotch said with a frown. "If there is a record for the amount of people arrested from one case we are going to break it for sure." I said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood as I took a drink from my coffee cup. We continued to look over the papers and slowly Prentiss and JJ joined us and started helping while eating their breakfast. "Remind me to pack my own food next time we have a long-term case. Hotel breakfast suck." Prentiss said with a frown. "Well it's better than what Morgan and Spence are getting. Hospital food is way worse than Hotel food." JJ said. "Man, I feel like I haven't seen those two in years! Morgan was at the house when we got the kids out, but that was three days ago now. And I haven't seem Spencer sense we got here for the original case...man we have been here a whole week!" I said. "Why don't you go by the hospital today? I haven't had a chance to go back to the house and help with gathering evidence, and I know Spencer and Morgan would love to see you...and you have to be curious about the kids." JJ said with a knowing grin. "I am. you have spent the most time with them, what do you think the two love birds are planning on doing with the kids?" I asked. "Morgan and Spencer? It's obvious they are going to try for adoption." JJ said. "It's obvious to everyone. I've already put in their requests for sabbaticals." Hotch said, not looking up from some type of forms on the table. But I didn't miss the smirk on his face either. "Well then I will take you up on your offer miss JJ. I would love to meet my future nieces and nephews." I said with a grin. "If you spoil them like you do the other teammates kids you will be their favorite uncle in no time." Prentiss said. "That's the goal." I said smiling. "Today is also the first day that we will be allowed to see Ben. I can't believe that he lived through all that." JJ said, remembering when Vanya had taken her to the room where he was laying out on a table, knife sticking out of him, blood everywhere. "He is tough, all those kids are. One ran through the woods in the pouring rain after not eating for days, one survived a cut to the throat, one survived multiple stab wounds, and one shot the man responsible for it all."

-Spencer Pov, Hospital-

"Rossi hello!" I said hugging him as he entered Allison's room. "It's been a few days hasn't it?" He asked with a grin as we pulled apart. He looked over at Allison who was currently eating breakfast, and it was easy to tell that she wasn't enjoying the oatmeal. But it was all she could have while she was still healing, doctor said no solid food for a week at least. "Hello. You must be Allison right?" Rossi asked walking over to sit beside the bed, and I didn't miss the bags of gifts that he had in his hands. 'Of course' I thought to myself standing behind Rossi as Allison wrote on the whiteboard that we had found for her. She was using a lot of paper writing everything, so the white board made things easier for everyone.

**"Are you one of the FBI who saved me / siblings?" **

"I am. But my friend Hotch is the one who saved you. He is busy, but will stop by later to see you." Rossi said.

**"Thank you. When can I see Ben?" **

The first part was meant for Rossi, but the question was meant for me and I frowned. "You have to stay on bed rest for one more day, and Ben is on bed rest for a week, so tomorrow we will get you a wheelchair and you can visit him then." I said. She frowned, but didn't retaliate or ask anymore questions. As a profiler it was easy to tell that she was scared of asking more questions and requesting things in fear of being punished in some way. It was one of the many things that Morgan and I would have to work on once they were living with us. "Bed rest?! Isn't that boring?" Rossi asked. Allison nodded, her neck movement getting much better from a few days ago. "I bet, that's why I brought a few things that will keep you entertained, maybe when your siblings come and visit you, you can share some things with them." Rossie said pulling some toys out from one of the many bags he had. Allison's eyes grew bigger and bigger as Rossi set down each item on the table beside her. A coloring book and markers, a sticker book, some cards, and even a 50 piece puzzle with a picture of kittens on the front of the box. Allison scrambled for her white board and wrote quickly on it and showed it to Rossi.

**"Is this all for me?" **

"Yep, we can even write your name on it!" Rossie said handing her the coloring book and a marker. Allison picked it up and Rossi pointed to the blank page at the front, explaining that if she wrote her name in it then it was hers and no one else could take it. She smiled as she wrote in it, but when I looked to see I and saw that she had written '_number 3_' I frowned. "Allison," I said gently stepping over Rossi. "You don't have to go by that number anymore. Remember what I said earlier?" She nodded and wrote my quote on the white board.

**"You are more than a number." **

"That's right. Your name is Allison. You deserve that name. I love that name." I said running my hand through her curly hair, and she gave me a big smile. She crossed out '_number 3_' in the coloring book and wrote down _'Allison_' I gave her a high five and Rossi started to show her how to color in the book, seeing as it was the first coloring book she had ever owned. And if Rossie saw me wipe a tear off my cheek after Allison gave me her first completed colored page with '_Spencer_' written on the bottom of it with a heart, he didn't say anything about it.

-Morgan Pov-

"Diego, if you pace around the room one more time I'm gonna go insane!" Klaus said pulling my attention away from Vanya's and Luther's coloring books they were playing with, courtesy of Rossi, to see that Dieog was the only one who hadn't touched any of the toys that Rossi had brought for the kids to stay entertained. Instead he was in fact walking around the hospital room with his arms folded, the expression on his face morphed to looking annoyed as he turned around to face Klaus and Five (the boy would change the subject every time we addressed giving him a new name) who were sitting on the bed with Rossi as the older man taught them how to play slap jack. "Well what else am I supposed to do? I don't wa-wanna play with some toys like a bunch of kids while we wait to see Ben." He said. Both Rossi and I gave each other a look across the room, being profilers we could clearly see that the boy was hiding something under the aggressive tone he used towards his brother. Luther, the one who was used to defusing situations started to stand. But I patted his back and he gave me a confused look before relaxing on the floor again with Vanya. "Watch out for the others while I take Diego out for a walk okay? He might just need some fresh air." I whispered to him. Luther smiled and gave me a nod, happy that he could still be useful as he turned back to face Vanya as she asked him what color she should use on the puppy she was coloring. I let myself watch the peaceful scene for a few more seconds before standing up myself. "Why don't we go for a walk around the hospital Diego? We can get back before it's time to visit Ben." I added the last part as he looked over at me. He hesitated for a few seconds, before agreeing and he kicked some shoes on. I held out my hand for him to take, but he huffed and stuffed his hands inside his pants pockets and walked past me out the door. Rossi smirked at the boys attitude, knowing it was all for show as he waved to us as I followed the boy out the door. I let the boy lead the way for a little bit walking in front of me, neither of us tried to talk until Diego asked if we could go to the roof of the hospital. "I think I remember there being a public part of the roof that we can get on. Why the roof?" I asked as I started to lead the way to the roof. He shrugged his shoulders and I let it go until we found the staircase that lead to the roof. I opened the door and kept an eye on the boy as he looked around. He took a deep breath in and out looking over the buildings. "There are a lot of building aren't there?" I asked. "Yea, we've only ever been in that house and this hospital. B-but there's so many more buildings out there?" He asked, and I agreed taking a seat near the edge, but not too close. Diego sat down beside me and I let him take in the view for a few minutes. "Does that make you feel overwhelmed?" I asked, testing the waters of what the boy felt comfortable talking about. He had his guard up with us much higher than his other siblings (besides Five, but that was for different reasons) "It makes me feel...I-I don't kn-know."He said, his stutter getting a bit worse. After everything he had been through it wasn't crazy that the boy developed a stutter, but it was easy to tell the boy was insecure about it. "I wish that m-mom could see th-this view." He said, picking at his fingernails. I raised an eyebrow at that, so Diego had been close to the woman who had been kidnapped by Hargreeves. "Did you all get along with your mom?" I asked, careful about my questions. "Yea. W-we all liked her m-more than dad. A-And she would help fix us after training...she was like us. t-t-trapped. But she did her b-best." He said, looking away from me. It was quite as I watched his body movement, deciding if he wanted to talk more or not. I let him think through it, instead of pushing. He was the type of person who pushed back when pushed, and this could be progress. Something was clearly bothering him. "No one e-else c-c-c" He huffed and curled up into ball, blocking me out. He took a few shaky breaths and sat back up. "Sh-she helped me with m-my stutter. Sh-she helped all o-of us. She tr-tried to hurt Allison." He said, his eyes watering. "Your mom was sick. That man that kidnapped her, your siblings, and you did bad things to her, I'm sure she was a great person. She just didn't know what she was doing to Allison. If her mind wasn't sick and hurt by Hargreeves she wouldn't have done that to your sister." I said, wanting to give him some form of comfort, but he wasn't like Klaus or Luther. He didn't respond to physical touch like they did. He needed other forms of comfort, and I had to figure out what those were. "Remember, just p-picture the word in your mind...mom would always say that when I had a hard time with my st-stutter." He said frowning, looking down at his feet. "Sounds like she was a great mom. Which is hard to do in a place where you guys were." I said. "N-no one else cares that she's d-d-dead." He said, his eyes watering again. "Sh-she w-was a g-g-good person." He said turning away from me. "She was. No one doubts that. And I'm sure your siblings are sad too. But they might not wanna talk about it, or are scared to because they know how much you loved her." He didn't face me, but I could hear his struggling to hold in the tears. "I used to think that you couldn't cry and he a strong man...until my dad died." He turned to face me then. "Your dad is d-dead too?" he asked. I nodded. "He was a policeman. He died protecting people. He was a good man and he died too. I was so sad, but I was the only man in the house with my mom and three sisters. So I had to man up, and I couldn't show anyone how weak I was by crying...but that wasn't right. It takes a real man to show your emotions. It takes a courageous man to show others how they are feeling." Diego shook his head back and forth, "N-no. Dad says it's w-weak if you show the enemy your tears." He said, as if he were reading from a script. He probably was in some form. "That man was not your dad. He didn't care about your safety like your mom did. He didn't fix you like your mom did. What did your mom do when she helped you with your stutter?" I asked. "Sh-she helped me talk...and said she was...p-proud when I did a good job." He said. "See. It takes a strong man to do that. To admit when they are sad, or mad, and to work at being a better version of themselves. I think your mom was very proud. And I'm proud too." He looked confused. "Your proud of me? For what?" He asked. "For being honest with me. It couldn't have been easy to share all that with me. But I'm glad you did. It makes me happy." He thought about my statement and stood up, trying to hide his blushing face from me. "W-well...whatever." He said folding his arms. "Lets go back to the room so we don't miss our visit with Ben." He said. I stood up and dusted off my pants, and as we started our walk back Diego stayed by my side instead of walking ahead of me. And while he wasn't on hand holding level just yet, it as a step in the right direction.

-Hotch Pov, Hargreeves house-

I walked by the room where Jordan aka. Grace, the 'mom' had cut Allison's throat. Despite spending the past few days in this house, I had successfully avoided that room. Prentiss had volunteered to take pictures and gather evidence from that room. And as I passed that room she gave me a friendly wave before continuing her work. I walked down the steps and into the main room. I looked around, seeing that there were some investigators in the kitchen. And turned to go down the kids hallway. It was the last day that our team would be here before leading the Black Market bust. It was hard to tell how long it would take, but from the forms that they had already found in just Hargreeves office it was a huge operation. If it weren't for Klaus running away when he did they wouldn't know about any of it. I stepped into the hallway and saw that there were seven closets, but they were used as the kids bedrooms. With only blanket. I was looking for anything that the kids might want to keep, but it didn't seem like they had anything besides the stuffed monkey that they had taken with them the night they left. I looked over the kids posters that were lining the wall, but they were fighting techniques. "Pretty sadistic isn't it?" JJ asked walking into the hallway to join me. I agreed, looking around. "I asked the kids if they wanted anything, but they said no...well Diego asked if he could have the knifes that he practiced with and I said no to that." Despite the whole situation I chuckled. It was that type of laughter that wasn't really a happy laugh, more like '_I can't believe this is real_' laughter. "It's so terrible. This was their normal." I said looking around. "It isn't anymore. Morgan and Spencer are going to give them a better life...we are wrapping up here if you want to go visit Ben. Apparently he woke up an hour ago." JJ said looking at her phone to double check the texts Morgan had sent her. "You don't want to?" I asked her. "I don't know how I would handle it. The last time I saw him he was dying with a knife in him. I will visit him - I just need to gather my bearings first." She explained. I agreed, "Yea, I needed to do the same before seeing Allison." I said, not sharing about the nightmare I had every night sense. I would see that woman dragging the knife through her neck, and me not being able to stop her. Until I woke up in a panic. "We did a good job. They are alive because of us. I just have to keep telling myself that." JJ said as we both stood in the dark hallway together.

-Spencer Pov-

"Now you need to stay calm okay? I know your super excited. But Ben is still recovering and really tired. So talk in your inside voices and don't hug him. You can hold his hands." I said as Klaus, Diego, and Luther stood in front of Ben's hospital room. Morgan had taken Vanya and Five to go with with Allison in her room, and then in an hour we would switch. We wanted to get the most energetic boys out of the way first, and when Allison was put in the wheelchair to visit Ben we wanted the calmer siblings to be with her so she didn't get worn out as fast. The boys all ran past me into the room as I opened the door and Ben smiled as they ran up to his bed. If they were surprised to see how weak Ben looked they didn't show it as they all circled the bed. I stood back a bit, looking over the boy as they all talked. The boys cheeks were hollow, and his skin was a sickly pale color. He looked so tiny in the bed, but his smile shined through all that as he held onto Klaus's hand. "I'm so glad your okay." He said. "Are you kidding?! I'm glad your okay!" Klaus said kissing the boys hand. Luther stood behind Diego on the other side of the bed, the tan boy taking Ben's other hand into his. (So he either does like physically affection and just doesn't trust us yet, or he knows that Ben likes it and is just doing it for him and his other siblings) I made a mental note as I walked over. "Ben. I haven't had a chance to meet you yet. My name is Spencer Reid. I work with the FBI agents who helped you and your siblings." I said with a gentle voice. "He and Morgan are super awesome! They helped me find you guys after I got out and they went in and got you all with their team of FBI kick butt agents." Klaus said doing some goofy karate moves. Ben chuckled and looked up at me. "Thank you." He said with that charming grin. "I'm just glad your okay." I said with a smile. The door opened up behind me and I turned to see Hotch pushing Allison's wheelchair into the room with Vanya and Five close behind them. I folded my arms as Morgan walked in last with Rossi. Morgan at least tried to look a bit bashful as the other kids surrounded Ben's bed. "I thought we agreed to separate the visits." I said as Morgan wrapped me up in his arms. I refused to hug him back as he explained himself. "Yea, but you should have seen them pretty boy. They were begging me to come see Ben with the rest of their siblings. They just all wanted to be together...how could I deny them that. Who cares if the room is packed?" He said looking around us. I finally let my arms fall from their fold and wrap around his waist. "Fine, but if any of the kids show any sign of tiredness or sickness were taking them out." I said as Morgan agreed. "But for now, let's enjoy this moment we have." He said looking over at the bed. I followed his gaze and saw all seven kids together. All of them smiling in a way they hadn't before. Five had sat Pogo on the bed and Ben had the monkey under his arm as they all talked. Allison wrote on her board at times, and even shy Vanya was talking among the group as they reunited. "It's days like this, that makes the job worth all the sacrifices." Rossi whispered as he stood beside Hotch. Hotch agreed, his eyes hovering on the bandage covering Allison's neck. Rossi patted Hotch on the shoulder and smiled. "You saved that girl. It would have been the end for her if you didn't take that shot. Don't let your mind go to those dark thoughts." He advised before walking away. I looked over the group of kids before turning to Morgan and Reid, who were watching them with a look of love that only parents could have in their eyes. "They are all together." Morgan said looking at me. "Not a missing number in the bunch. Now we get to move on to the next phase. Moving them in with us, and creating a family with them. A real family." I said looking at the kids, determination in my voice. "We got out work cut out for us, but I wouldn't do it with any other pretty boy in the world." Morgan said kissing my cheek.


	6. Chapter 6: Were going to be okay

Six months. It had been six long months sense Spencer had left the hospital with Luther, Diego, Allison, Five (who now had an actual name), Klaus, and Vanya. Morgan and Ben had joined them in their home a week later. To say that life had been a whirlwind sense they adopted the seven children would be an understatement. The new family had to move to a house instead of living in the apartment that Morgan and Spencer had been sharing, start therapy for the children (which was going a lot better now than when they had first started the weekly sessions with the kids), start physical therapy for Allison and Ben, start family therapy for everyone (which he and Morgan had both struggled with at the beginning, but were very happy with the continuing results), go through the adoption process with all seven children, and on top of all of that they had to work through the court case and make sure that Luther's actions with Hargreeves wouldn't be on his record in any negative way. The six months felt like six days with how busy it had been. But things were calmer now, and Spencer couldn't hide his grin if he wanted to as he sat on the front porch of their three story home in a peaceful neighborhood, only a 20 minute drive away from work, and only five minutes away from JJ's house. Vanya and Ben were sitting with him on the front porch, the boy reading a book in Spencer's lap while Vanys was practicing her violin, the music carried by the wind of the beautiful spring day. "What is this word?" Ben asked looking up at Spencer, pointing to the word '_encounter'_ in his book. Spencer looked away from the other children who were playing some type of game in the front yard and sounded out the word with Ben, then explained what the word meant. "Hey! Come on Luther. That's not fair!" Klaus called out as Luther kicked the soccer ball over his head, and into the make shift goal that the kids had made with sticks and twigs from the tree in the front yard. "How is it not fair? I didn't break any rules." He said with a grin as Allison grabbed the ball. "Yea Klaus, that was a fair play. Don't be a sore loser." She said, Spencer grinning as the sound of her voice. He could still remember the first time she spoke to him like it was yesterday.

-Five Months Ago-

She had been in physical therapy for almost a month and the doctor was starting to lose hope that she would ever talk again. But Morgan and Spencer didn't let their disappointment in the situation show in front of their daughter as they drove her home from the therapists session. As they pulled into the driveway Allison started to unbuckle her own seat belt and Spencer was jsut glad that she was alive, voice or no voice. That day so long ago could have been so different if not for Hotch's actions. Allison had run inside the house after Morgan opened the car door for her, eager to see her siblings after being away from them for a few hours while Spencer and Morgan took their time walking into the house. Morgan walked into the kitchen where his mom, the kids grandmother, was cooking dinner while Spencer went to check in on the other kids who were finishing their homework in the living room. The kids weren't nearly ready to go to any form of public or private school after only a month of adjusting to their new lives. So the couple had decided the a home tutor and homeschooling would be the best for the time being. He walked into the living room to see everyone working, except for Klaus and Allison. "Luther, where are your brother and sister?" Spencer asked. "Klaus went upstairs to get his notebook awhile ago and Allison went to go check on him and get her homework from her room." The boy said without looking up from his math sheet. Spencer thanked him before walking up the steps, but before he made it all the way to the second floor he could hear some sort of commotion. "Dad!" He heard someone cry out and he started running, taking the steps two at a time, hearing the fear and shrill sound of the voice calling for him. He didn't even think as he threw the door open to to bedroom where he could hear crying. Allison was kneeling next to Klaus's bed and looked worried as Spencer ran over. This wasn't the first time that Klaus had some form of anxiety/panic attack and hidden under his bed, but it was the first time that Allison was a witness and it clearly had scared her as well. "It's okay Allison, it's okay." He said gently as he lowered himself to the floor and tried to get Klaus's attention. The scared boy sobbed when he saw Spencer and practically jumped out from under the bed and climbed into the mans arms. "I'm here now Klaus. Breath, feel my chest and breath with me." Spencer said gently petting the boy's messy hair down with one hand while running the other hand over the boys back, the man could feel the boys heart racing against his hand as Klaus struggled to get his breathing under control. It took a few minutes, but soon enough Klaus was breathing normally and slumped against Spencer, his legs wrapped around Spencer's waist and arms around his neck. The sudden attack had taken any energy the boy had left from the day as he snuggled his face into Spencer's neck, resting in one of the few places he knew was safe. "Dad, is he okay?" Allison asked sitting on her knees next to the two boys. Spencer blinked, his mind blanked out for a second at the shock of two things. 1) Allison finally calling him dad, and 2) she was using her voice! It was a whisper, but he could hear her beautiful voice coming out of her. "Dad, why are you crying? Do I need to get Papa?!" She asked going to stand up, but Spencer wrapped his arm that wasn't supporting Klaus around her and pulled her into his side in a hug. "No, I'm - I'm just happy. These are happy tears. Klaus is fine...your voice is beautiful honey." He said looking to the young girl as she blushed. She seemed confused for a few seconds before her hand hovered above the scar that was on her neck. "I - I did it!" She said, her voice a whisper again, but they had heard it. She had talked. "I'm so proud." Spencer said kissing her cheek. "Now let's go tell Papa that you said 'Dad' before 'Papa'. It will be entertaining." Allison smiled and stood up, before helping Spencer stand with a tired Klaus still slumped against him. Klaus was fighting a loosing battle with sleep in Spencer's arms as they walked down the steps together, Allison rushing into the kitchen. "Your sister must love you very much to use her voice to help you, right Klaus?" Spencer whispered as the boys eyelids fluttered shut. Spencer got a sleepy grunt as an answer and he smiled as he heard Morgan say "You've gotta be kidding me! But I'm the cool Dad!" from the kitchen.

-Present-

"Papa's and Grammy are home!" Diego called from the yard, snapping Spencer out of his memory as he saw the car pull up into the driveway, coming back from a much needed grocery trip. "Let's go help them with the groceries." The dad said gently pulling Ben up off of his lap and Vanya closed her violin case with everything inside of it and handed it to her dad for safe keeping. The two ran down the steps and up to Morgan's mother as she got out of the car with a big grin on her face. Morgan's mother had been nothing short of a life saver in the whole process of starting this new family. Morgan's other sisters had moved out, so she was living on her own in Morgan's childhood home, so when Morgan called to tell her the news of her new seven grandchildren days after the case had closed. The woman insisted on coming up and helping her son and husband, and after she had been living in the guest room for a month she had decided that she wanted to move into a house a few blocks away from our house. Morgan was scared at first that she was doing this out of some kind of obligation, but she had insisted that she wanted to be as close to her grandchildren as possible (because it was impossible to not fall in love with them instantly) and she was all alone in the town that she had raised her family in. And all seven kids had taken a liking to her instantly, and it helped that she was over at least three times a week. Mostly for Allison and Vanya to have a woman role model in a house full of men. But Diego had also formed a strong relationship with Morgan's mom as well. Spencer sighed, remembering that the family had an upcoming trip to see his own mother soon. Morgan and Spencer had explained to the kids the best they could that she was mentally sick, but she was in a good place and that she would love all seven of them, even if she couldn't remember them all the time. Spencer felt Morgan kissing the side of his head, pulling him out of his thoughts again. "Sorry. I spaced out." Spencer said standing up and taking a few bags full of food out of Morgan's hands. "It's okay. Thinking about the trip?" Morgan asked. Spencer nodded, confirming his thoughts and Morgan smiled, sharing a quick kiss with his husband. "It will be great, but come help me with the kids and take your mind off of it." Morgan said pulling the man inside. It had taken awhile for the large house to feel like a home to the family, and one of the first things that Morgan had done to decorate was put up a few pictures of his dad on the wall in the main hallway.

-Four months Ago-

Klaus ran into the hallway where Morgan was hanging up pictures, one of the first things that he was doing to decorate their new home. "Papa, is it true that licking a battery will give me pubs?"Morgan paused and looked down to his son standing at his side. "Which one of your brothers told you that?" He asked with a smirk. "Diego, is it true?" Klaus asked. "No, it is not true. Please do not lick a battery." Morgan told the boy before ruffling up his hair and sending him off. He focused back to the wall for a few minutes before another child interrupted him. "Who is that?" Five asked as Morgan hung another picture on the wall. "It's my Pops. Remember when I told you he died in action as a police officer?" The man asked kneeling down and pulling the boy into his side. "Yea, but I've never seen a picture of him. Was he a good dad?" Five asked, leaning into Morgan's side. The kid usually wasn't so cuddly, but he was nervous because he would have to pick out a name to go by soon. The court and his dads said that he couldn't be called 'Five' for the rest of his life. And that he needed a real name like his other siblings. He didn't know what he wanted his name to be. In an earlier therapy session he had admitted to his therapist that he didn't feel as if he deserved a name, and the two dads were working on showing the boy that he deserved everything in the world. "He was a great dad. I wanna be just like my dad when I grow up. Because he helped people, he was selfless, and he had one of the biggest hearts I had ever seen." Morgan said, looking at the picture. Five tilted his head to the side (something he did when he was thinking deeply about something, his dads had noticed) and looked at the picture as well. "Wanna hear a few stories about him?" Morgan asked, more than happy to share some stories about his own dad with one of his own kids. Five nodded and looked over the other pictures as Morgan hung them onto the wall of their new home. And later that night Five, and all the other kids, were on the edge of their seats as Morgan told stories of his dad in the police force. Helping people and saving lives.

The next day while Spencer was looking over the kids homework with their tutor. Five walked into his office and asked what Morgan's father full name was, and the man didn't think about it much as he said "Hank Morgan" without looking up from Ben's math quiz he had almost failed. Talking with the tutor on how he could help Ben improve his grade.

And when the family went to the courthouse a few weeks later and Five said he wanted his official name to be "Hank Morgan-Reid" Their Papa couldn't hold back the few happy tears that fell down his face even if he tried.

-Present Day-

Morgan hadn't realized he had stopped walking and was looking at the picture of his dad on the wall till he heard Ben and Klaus calling for him from the kitchen. He smiled and followed the voices calling "Papa!" into the kitchen and set the bags of food down, grabbing each boy by the torso and pulling them off the ground. They both laughed as Morgan spun around the kitchen, a boy in each arm. He was the dad who would rough house with the kids playfully, but he always had to be a bit more gentle with Ben. His healing process was going really well, but he was still on his special diet (probably would be for the rest of his life) and was a bit skinnier and weaker than his other siblings because of it. But if you would have told Ben's doctor that he could run around and be as active as he is six months after everything that happened he would have laughed. But the boys progress was incredible, and the doctor made sure the never forget to tell the boy that whenever he was discouraged during his physical therapy.

-Three months ago-

Ben sat on the back porch of Uncle Rossi's house, chin in hand as he watched everyone playing in the back yard. But he wasn't allowed to. Not yet. It wasn't fair, even his uncles and aunts kids were here and everyone got to play together except him. He couldn't do anything too physical so he was stuck on the porch with the boring adults. Morgan noticed his son pouting on the porch, watching the other kids playing and got Spencer's attention. The man smirked as Spencer walked over to Ben. "Hey, I'm sorry you can't go out and play with them...but do you wanna do something else that is really cool?" He asked. "There isn't anything cool up here. It's boring up here." Ben said, and Spencer had to resist the urge to pinch the child's adorable pouty lip. "Oh yea? How about I show you something cool." Spencer said before starting a small magic show with the boy. Ben was immediately interested, and asked the man if he could show him how to do a magic trick. Later that night when the kids were tired from running around the yard all night Ben got to show them all a few magic tricks he had learned from Spencer and was glowing with pride as everyone watched him. Morgan felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Hotch standing behind him with a smile. "you two are doing really good with them." He said watching the group. "Some days are better than others, but after three months I'm starting to feel like we can actually do this." Morgan said with a smirk. "Don't doubt it. Those kids love you two, it's obvious." I smiled looking back at the kids as they all cheered when Bed pulled out Jack's card out of the pile. "God we love them so much, it's crazy. I didn't think I could ever love a human so much...it's going to be a rough adjustment when we go back on the field." Morgan said. "It makes you better at the job in some aspects, if you let it. But you still have three more months before you have to worry about any of that. Take this time you have now to really spend with your family." Hotch said, knowingly. "Yea I know. I'm not wasting a moment of these six months, how is the case going with the baby black market?" Morgan asked. "Good, Hargreeves files gave us the perfect leads, and we have almost shut the whole thing down. It will be terminated by the time you and Spencer get back." I congratulated him, before everyone started cleaning up and getting ready to go home. JJ, Prentiss, and Penelope kissed all of the kids cheeks and gave them hugs while Rossi and Hotch each demanded a high-five as Spencer and I lead them out of the house. It was good to see the team again, we hadn't seen them sense the Hargreeves case ended. We had taken our sabbaticals and vacation days and put them to good use, and the team had been busy shutting down the baby black market, so when Rossi offered to host dinner at his home we were more than happy to agree. After all the kids said their goodbyes to the team we were loading the kids into the cars, most of them so tired from the night that they were falling asleep as we buckled them in their seats. "Thanks for showing me magic tricks dad." Ben said, one hand rubbing his eyes sleepily while the other was holding Spencer's shirt as the dad buckled him into his seat. "Anytime kiddo." Spencer said, kissing the boys forehead. And as I started the car and drove out of Rossi's driveway Spencer grabbed my free hand in his and we sat in silence, listening to the quite sounds of Klaus's snoring, and our kids sleeping in peace.

-Present Day-

"You better not be throwing my grand babies across the kitchen now!" Morgan's mom said as she walked into the kitchen with Vanya and Allison on her tail. "Grammy help!" Klaus called out dramatically as Morgan sat him and Ben on the ground. They both ran over behind her and she grabbed a spatula from the kitchen bar. "You better get out before you get a whooped." The woman said, putting on a show for the giggling children behind her. Morgan smiled and accepted defeat, walking by her and dodging a whack from the spatula as he left the kitchen. "Alright, who wants to help with dinner?" Grammy asked the kids, Klaus and Ben both ran out of the kitchen before she could even finish her sentence and she laughed at their goofy shenanigans. "We wanna!" Allison said holding Vanya's hand in hers. Morgan's mom told them to get their cooking aprons and they ran over to the closet to grab theirs while the woman got the food out for tonight's dinner to cook. She could remember when she first met her grand babies. How different they were now from when she first met them. Especially Vanya. Six months ago the girl never said a word around anyone unless she was talking to her siblings, or her dads. It took a lot of reassurance from Spencer and Morgan that the girl was just adjusting, and she would open up to her Grammy when she was ready. Vanya was the last child to call Spencer and Morgan Dad and Pops, and the last child to call her Grammy. She could still remember the night it had all happened as well.

-Two months ago-

Morgan's mom was sitting in the living room, it was around 10pm and she had just settled down after cleaning around the house a bit and putting the kids to bed. It had taken everything in her power to convince Morgan and Spencer to go out on a date tonight and leave the kids in her care. Obviously they were nervous about leaving the kids, but not having a night to themselves in so long was starting to strain on their relationship, so with an extra push from the girls on the boys BAU team they were finally able to convince the two that a date night was long overdue. Leaving the seven children in the care of their reliable Grammy. It was now the easy part of the night where she waited for the parents to return, so she could give a full report of how wonderful the night had gone to the two dads before going to her own home that she had recently moved into so she could be closer to her grand babies. But that peace was disturbed when she heard the all to familiar sound coming from upstairs. The sound of a child throwing up. "Oh no," She said with a sigh before quickly going upstairs. Thankfully, which ever child was getting sick had made it to the bathroom which was indicated by the open bathroom door and the light that was filling the otherwise dark hallway. She had expected Ben to be the one in the bathroom, considering he got sick a few times a month when his diet was adjusted. But it was Vanya who was holding onto the toilet with tight hands as the contents of her stomach were flying out of her mouth into the bowl. "Oh darling." The woman said walking over and taking the girls long hair into one hand and keeping it out of the mess as much as possible while she rubbed a comforting hand on the girls shaking back. If the girl noticed the actions her Grammy was taking she didn't show it as she continued to throw up. "Vanya? - oh no." Grammy looked up to see Luther entering the bathroom in his PJ's the sleep in his eyes slowly fading as he knelled next to his sick sister, always the protective brother. "She hates throwing up. It scares her." He said as he didn't even blink at the gross smell of barf starting to fill the bathroom, or the sweat that he brushed out of his sisters wet face. "Honey I know you want to help, but I don't want to expose you to her if she is contagious." Luther frowned and the woman sighed, knowing that he wouldn't leave his sick sisters side without a fight. "But I do know how you can help. Go downstairs and get my cell phone off of the couch and bring it up here for me." Luther seemed satisfied enough to get up and do as he was told. As long as it was helping his sister. The boy's heart was so big, always wanting to help one way or another. Vanya's coughing snapped the woman's focus back on the girl as she slowly sat up, her face sickly pale and her bangs soaked with sweat sticking to her forehead. "I-I'm sorry." she said, her voice weak as her arms shook from holding herself up above the toilet. "Don't be honey. Everyone gets sick. Were you feeling bad when you went to bed?" The girl nodded, and Grammy sighed. Of course she didn't tell anyone. She probably thought she would be ignored or in the way if she told anyone she was feeling bad. The girls self deprecating thoughts were really unhealthy, but much better than when she had first arrived months earlier. "Here you go, and I got some water too." Luther said walking back into the bathroom. Grammy took the phone while Luther told Vanya to wash her mouth out and drink some of the water. The girl was still ill stricken, and there would probably be more throwing up as the night progressed. It was easy to see from how Vanya's body was shaking and her pale skin as Grammy called Morgan.

"_Hey Ma, how is everything?_" Morgan asked.

"Well the night was going perfectly well until Vanya got sick. I think it's some type of flu or virus. I haven't taken her temperature or anything but it's pretty bad." The woman said, looking over the pale girl as she leaned over the toilet again, her arms shaking more as her body seemed to fight the oncoming vomit.

After explaining what was going on Morgan said that they were almost home from their date night, '_Damn it Spencer who cares if the speed limit is 30? Our kid is sick_!', and thanked the woman before hanging up the phone. Luther was holding Vanya's hair as she got sick again and the woman sighed. It was going to be a long night. Twenty minutes later Morgan and Spencer both ran into the bathroom and frowned at the sight in front of them. "I'll go get the living room ready and some medication, probably best if she stays there so she doesn't get the other kids sick." Spencer said before taking Luther's hand and pulling the boy down the steps with him, knowing that the boy wouldn't be able to sleep himself until he knew that Vanya was taken care of. Morgan knelled to the ground beside the poor kid. "Thank you so much Ma, we got it from here." He said pulling the sick girl into his arms once he was sure that she was done throwing up for the time being. Vanya buried her face into Morgan's chest and grabbed two handfuls of his dress shirt that he had worn for his date. "I know girl, were going to help you feel all better okay?" He whispered comfortably into the girls ear. She looked up from Morgan, her eyes a bit watery from all the sickness and said. "Thanks Grammy." in a weak voice before Morgan left the bathroom. The woman, despite how bad she felt that the girl was sick, smiled at finally being called Grammy by the last kid.

Morgan sat on the couch with Vanya in his arms as she shaking girl rested against him. Her legs were resting on either side of his waste and her arms were wrapped around his neck, her hands full of his shirt as her head rested against his chest. Morgan didn't need a thermometer to tell him she was running a fever. He could feel the heat from her body against his chest as she lay on top of him. "Where is Dad, Papa?" She whispered. "He is getting some medicine to help you feel better. Do you want anything?" Morgan whispered as he rocked back and forth with the girl. "Stay. I want you to stay." She said blinking up at him. Morgan sighed, trying to deal with the bundle of love that was bubbling in his chest as he held Vanya closer to himself. "Or course." He said kissing her sweaty forehead as Spencer and Luther walked back into the living room. With an empty bucket, blankets, pillows, water bottles, some wet cold clothes and medication. "It's going to be a long night." Spencer said draping the wet cloth over the girls forehead, Vanya instantly sighed with relief at the cold touch to her forehead. "We'll be alright. Right Luther?" Morgan asked as Spencer got some medicine ready for Vanya to take. The boy nodded, his eyes not leaving Vanya as she sipped the bitter liquid out of the spoon that Spencer held up to her lips. "That's going to make you sleepy, so drink a little bit of water and just relax okay?" Spencer said with a gentle voice as he opened a water bottle for the girl to sip from. "Okay, thanks dad." The girl said, her eyes already a bit droopy. She missed the big smile that Spencer had on his face, but Luther didn't and he sat on the recliner with Spencer while Morgan lay on his back on the couch, Vanya's cheek resting against his broad chest. She let the medication, and her Papa's warm chest pull her into blissful sleep. The last thing she heard was the thumping of her Papa's heartbeat against her ear. Shortly after Luther watched Vanya fall asleep he too fell asleep in Spencer's lap. It was hard not to with Spencer running his hand through the boys blonde hair, and his hand running up and down Luther's back. After 30 minutes passed and the two dads were sure that the boy wouldn't be waking up again Spencer carried him to his own room. It was sweet that the boy wanted to help his sister, but he needed his own rest as well. They knew that Vanya was going to be sleepy and sick all day tomorrow, and maybe even the rest of the week. They didn't want to have to worry about a second sleep deprived child on top of the chaos that was sure to ensue tomorrow. Luther didn't stir from his sleep one bit as Spencer tucked him into his own bed, and he left the boy to his own dreams with a kiss on the forehead while brushing some of his blonde hair out of his face. He went back downstairs to the sight of Vanya awake and throwing up in the bin beside the couch. Morgan holding onto her as she was bent over throwing up whatever was left in her body, so probably just water and stomach acids. "Yep, it's going to be a long night." Spencer said to himself as he walked over to the two and pulled a hairband off of his wrist to tie the girls long hair up with. More than ready for a night of sickness if it meant that the girl called him "Dad" for the rest of her life.

-Present Day-

"Grammy what do you want us to do first?" Vanya asked as she helped Allison tie the back of her apron so it would stay on. "Grab a few pots and start boiling some water okay! Then wait for me." Grammy said as she got ready to start cooking dinner with her two girls.

While the women were in the kitchen the boys had moved back outside to finish their game that they were playing earlier. Morgan taking Allison's spot on Luther and Hank's team, while Diego, Klaus, and Ben were on the other team. Spencer was back on the porch, watching Ben closely to make sure he didn't over exert himself. It was a peaceful and sunny day. The wind blowing just enough to keep it from being unbearably hot. Spencer smiled, watching as Morgan kicked the ball around Hank, but let Diego steal the ball to make a goal. The boys cheered and Klaus pulled Diego into a hug while the other boy pretended to be annoyed. But everyone knew better, Diego adored the attention he got from his siblings. They all loved each other. They didn't like being apart for very long. They were all attached to each other and still seemed to have some fear of being separated, even though they took time in each therapy session to assure the kids that they wouldn't be taken away by anyone ever again. And that Spencer and Morgan loved them, they weren't like Hargreeves. The kid who seemed to struggle the most with understanding that was Luther. But Luther had been the most damaged by Hargreeves as well. Hargreeves had sexually and emotionally abused him more than any of the other kids, and he used his number system to put so much pressure and responsibility that should never be on a child's shoulders. While Ben, Klaus, and Hank had taken most of the physical abuse, there wasn't any doubt that Luther was the most mentally abused. It was evident in Luther's every day behavior, and while he was getting a lot better. There were still rough days for him.

-One Month Ago-

Morgan felt himself get pulled out of what he would call a very delightful dream of his husband. He grunted, wondering what was waking him up. When his mind registered a small hand on his chest he forced himself to wake up, knowing that one of his kids wanted him. He opened his eyes to see Diego at the side of the bed, smiling sleepily when he saw his dads eyes open. "Sorry, Luther is having another nightmare." He whispered. Morgan nodded, sitting up in the bed. This had been a common occurrence. Less frequent now that the kids had been with them for months now, but Luther and Diego shared a bedroom. And the first few months the two boys kept Luther's nightmares a secret, scared that their dads would be mad at them. When Spencer and Morgan found out the boy was being kept up in the night by his fears they told Diego to get them when Luther was scared. He had agreed, knowing that Luther wasn't getting enough sleep, and happy that the two dads weren't mad at his brother for having nightmares. The two had a rough relationship, but Diego and Luther did care for each other, despite Hargreaves trying to divide them with silly numbers and rankings. Morgan pulled Diego up into the bed and he let the boy lay where he was once sleeping. Spencer, barely awake turned over and pulled Diego to his chest, and Diego was just tired enough to snuggle into his Dads embrace without caring about the action. Both were asleep again in each others arms before Morgan even left the bedroom.

Morgan walked into Luther and Diego's bedroom, hearing Luther whimper in his sleep. Morgan let out a heavy sigh before sitting on the side of the boys bed. Luther would toss and turn every few seconds, fighting some kind of monster (or man) in his sleep. "Hey Luther, come on now." Morgan whispered putting firm hands over the boys shoulders. It took a few minutes of gentle nudges and whispers before Luther jumped, his body waking up suddenly. He was breathing heavily and it took him a few moments to see Morgan through his blurry vision. "I-I'm." The boy said, struggling to breath. Morgan silenced the boy before he could even try to stumble through an apology. "Remember what Dad and Papa told you? Don't be sorry for nightmares." He said rubbing the boys arms. His body was still stiff, but Luther's eyes were already fighting to stay open. Unlike most of his other brothers Luther was very open about enjoying cuddles and physical affection. So when Morgan pulled him into his lap he didn't fight it at all. Instead he sank into his Papa's chest as the man held him close. "Tell me about your dream." Morgan said, his voice both demanding and gentle in a way that only a father could execute. Luther frowned, knowing that his Papa wouldn't let him keep it to himself. Luther tried to hold back the tears as he started reciting the nightmare (and memory) "I was back with Hargreeves...he was taking Allison into the training room- and - and I told him to take me instead. Because that's what I'm supposed to do. And Hargreeves - _sniff_\- he got the belt out- and - and I." A sob escaped his mouth and Morgan didn't push anymore. Luther had that dream enough times to know how it ended, and it made his blood boil. The thought of what happened to him as a kid also happening to Luther. But that would never happen to him again. "You don't need to be scared of Hargreeves anymore. Because that's never going to happen to you again. You remember why?" Morgan asked, rocking the boy in his arms back and forth. "Because -_hiccup_\- Dad and Papa will protect me." Luther said from memory as he let his eyes close. "Yea, Dad and Papa will always protect you from evil men." Morgan said as he wiped the tears off the boys cheeks. Luther didn't say anything else, but he let Morgan hold him in his arms. His Papa supporting his legs and back while his head rested against his chest. Minutes later Luther was asleep again, but this time without nightmares and in Papa's arms. Morgan slowly leaned back in the bed, and although the bed was too small for his body, he held Luther in his arms and got as comfortable as possible before falling asleep as well. Ready to be by Luther's side, ready to comfort him and reassure him if another nightmare happened.

-Present Day-

Spencer couldn't remember how many times he had waken up to Diego in his bed and Morgan in Luther's room, but he never minded. And as he watched Luther run across the yard with a smile on his face he knew it was all worth it. All the restless nights, all the hard times, and all the days to come would be worth it. Because he loves these seven kids more than he could even comprehend. Vanya and Allison opened the front door to the house and called everyone in for dinner. And while he made sure the boys went to the bathroom to wash their hands before running to the kitchen he couldn't help but worry, he and Morgan were going back to work next week. And while Morgan's mom was able to take care of the kids while they were gone on cases, he couldn't help but be wary. The therapists and doctors had given him assurances that the kids would have to adjust, but would be okay with their dads going back to work. Part of Spencer was worried about the kids, but he was also worried about himself and Morgan. JJ and Hotch were already giving them advice about being on the road so much as a parent, but it wasn't doing much to ease Spencer's worries. "Dad! Come on, we're waiting for you!" Allison called from the kitchen door. Spencer smiled and walked into the kitchen to see his family all sitting around the table ready to enjoy another meal together. They had made it this far hadn't they? If someone would have told Spencer years ago that he would have seven kids the same age, married to Morgan, and living this domestic lifestyle he would have laughed in their faces. But here he was, and they had overcome every other obstacle so far, they would overcome this one too. And anything else that came in their families way. "Dad, can you pass the potatoes?" Klaus asked from across the table. Spencer did as asked and he caught Morgan sending him an assuring smile across the table. Spencer nodded to Morgan, smiling as the family ate together for dinner after another good day.


End file.
